Torita Blake

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]

Torita Blake
2016 Australian Paralympic team portrait of Isaac
Personal information
NationalityAustralian
Born (1995-07-05) 5 July 1995
Moree, New South Wales
Sport
CountryAustralia
SportParalympic athletics
ClubUniversity of Queensland
Coached byWayne Leaver
Medal record
IPC Athletics World Championships
Bronze medal – third place2015 Doha400 m T38
Bronze medal – third place2017 London400 m T38

She competed as Torita Isaac up until 2016.[4]

Personal

Blake 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
Isaac at the 2012 London Paralympics
Isaac at the 2012 London Paralympics

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]

She is coached by Wayne Leaver in Brisbane.[5][10]

References
  1. "Shining stars on the road to the Paralympics | Tracker". Archived from the original on 16 December 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  2. "Doha 2015". Athletics Australia website. 26 October 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  3. "Australian Paralympic Athletics Team announced". Australian Paralympic Committee News, 2 August 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  4. "Torita Blake". Athletics Australia website. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  5. "Torita Isaac profile". International Paralympic Committee website. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  6. "Torita Isaac". Australia: Australian Paralympic Committee. 2012. Archived from the original on 18 July 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  7. Kay, Ross (9 August 2012). "Who are our Queensland Paralympians? - ABC Wide Bay Qld — Australian Broadcasting Corporation". Abc.net.au. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  8. 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.
  9. "Isaac ready for London". Moree Champion. 7 August 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  10. Lawrence, Ellisa (5 September 2016). "Paralympics 2016: We're the Superhumans - Queensland's champions". Courier Mail. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  11. "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.
  12. "Torita Isaac recent performances". Nswathletics.info. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  13. "Paralympics Team List". BigPond Sport. 6 January 2012. Archived from the original on 4 September 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  14. "Women's 400m - T38 Schedule & Results – Paralympic Athletics". Rio Paralympics Results. Archived from the original on 24 October 2016. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
  15. Ryner, Sascha. "A silver lining for Australia". Athletics Australia News, 16 July 2017. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  16. Ryner, Sascha. "Photo decider sees O'Hanlon reclaim glory". Athletics Australia News. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
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