Torita Blake (born 5 July 1995) is an Indigenous Australian athlete. She represented Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in athletics and won a bronze medal at the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships.[1][2] She represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics in athletics.[3]
 2016 Australian Paralympic team portrait of Isaac | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Australian |
| Born | 5 July 1995 Moree, New South Wales |
| Sport | |
| Country | Australia |
| Sport | Paralympic athletics |
| Club | University of Queensland |
| Coached by | Wayne Leaver |
She competed as Torita Isaac up until 2016.[4]
Personal
editBlake was born on 5 July 1995 in Moree, New South Wales.[5][6] She is from Logan, Queensland.[7][8] She was born with cerebral palsy, is blind in her right eye and has only 10% minimised vision in her left.[5][8] She has fractured her legs eleven times.[9] She has broken both arms falling off a horse.[9] Blake is an Indigenous woman from the Dunghutti Aboriginal people.[6]
Blake is an ambassador for the Raise the Bar Academy, a program run by Athletics Australia and Melbourne University, for indigenous secondary school students. She said "I've always wanted to inspire and show my heritage off. I'd like to be a mentor to indigenous kids and also kids with disability in sports. I want to represent Australia, but also my community and my culture. If I can show young indigenous kids you can do something, that nothing can stop you, then that's extra special for me."[10]
Athletics
edit
Isaac first joined an athletics club in 2011,[6][7][9][10] and specialises in sprints.[11] She has been classified as a T13 before being reclassified to T38.[8][9] She is a former member of Jimboomba Athletics Club.[8]
Isaac competed in the 2012 Sydney Track Classic, 2012 Brisbane Track Classic and the 2012 Adelaide Track Classic.[12] At the 2012 Summer Paralympics, she finished seventh in the 100 m T38, seventh in the 200 m T38 and fourth in the 4 × 100 m Relay T35-38event.[5][8][13]
Competing at the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships in Lyon, she finished seventh in both the Women's 100m and 200m T38.[5] At the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha, she won a bronze medal in the Women's 400m T38.[2]
At the 2016 Rio Paralympics, her aim was to receive a podium finish although unfortunately missed out placing 4th overall in the 400 m T38 event with a time of 1:04.47[14]
At the 2017 World Para Athletics Championships in London, England, she won a bronze medal in the Women's 400m T38 and finished seventh in the Women's 200m T38.[15][16]
References
edit
- ^ "Shining stars on the road to the Paralympics | Tracker". Archived from the original on 16 December 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
- ^ a b "Doha 2015". Athletics Australia website. 26 October 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
- ^ "Australian Paralympic Athletics Team announced". Australian Paralympic Committee News, 2 August 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
- ^ "Torita Blake". Athletics Australia website. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
- ^ a b c d e "Torita Isaac profile". International Paralympic Committee website. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
- ^ a b c "Torita Isaac". Australia: Australian Paralympic Committee. 2012. Archived from the original on 18 July 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
- ^ a b Kay, Ross (9 August 2012). "Who are our Queensland Paralympians? - ABC Wide Bay Qld — Australian Broadcasting Corporation". Abc.net.au. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
- ^ a b c d e Boswell, Tom (11 July 2012). "London looms for Jimboomba athlete Torita Isaac | News, events and sport for Logan". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
- ^ a b c d "Isaac ready for London". Moree Champion. 7 August 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
- ^ a b c Lawrence, Ellisa (5 September 2016). "Paralympics 2016: We're the Superhumans - Queensland's champions". Courier Mail. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
- ^ "Sullivan named among final seven for Australian London 2012 athletics team | Athletics News". insideworldparasport.biz. 20 July 2012. Archived from the original on 21 July 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
- ^ "Torita Isaac recent performances". Nswathletics.info. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
- ^ "Paralympics Team List". BigPond Sport. 6 January 2012. Archived from the original on 4 September 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
- ^ "Women's 400m - T38 Schedule & Results – Paralympic Athletics". Rio Paralympics Results. Archived from the original on 24 October 2016. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
- ^ Ryner, Sascha. "A silver lining for Australia". Athletics Australia News, 16 July 2017. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
- ^ Ryner, Sascha. "Photo decider sees O'Hanlon reclaim glory". Athletics Australia News. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
External links
edit- Torita Blake at Paralympics Australia
- Torita Blake at the International Paralympic Committee
- Torita Blake at IPC.InfostradaSports.com (archived)
- Torita Blake at Australian Athletics Historical Results
