Tanya Blake

Tanya-Gee Blake (born 16 January 1971) is a Maltese-English retired middle-distance runner, who specialized in the 800 metres and competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Tanya Blake

Personal information
Nationality	British/Maltese
Born	(1971-01-16) 16 January 1971 (age 54) Newham, London, England
Height	1.67 m (5 ft 5+1⁄2 in)
Weight	58 kg (128 lb)
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event	Middle-distance running
Club	Zurrieq Wolves
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	800 m: 1:59.56 (2003) 1500 m: 4:29.01 (2003)

Biography

Born in England to a Maltese mother and American father,^[1] Blake held dual citizenship to compete internationally and represented Malta.^[2]

Blake finished second behind Diane Modahl in the 800 metres event at the 1998 AAA Championships.^[3] Blake recorded two more second place finishes behind Kelly Holmes at the 1999 AAA Championships and 2001 AAA Championships.^[4]

Blake set a historic milestone as the first Maltese athlete to break a two-minute barrier and a national record in the 800 metres at the 2003 Prefontaine Classic Grand Prix in Eugene, Oregon, United States, by registering her career best and an A-standard entry time of 1:59.56 it guaranteed her a spot on her adopted nation's team for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.^[5][6] In the women's 800 metres at the Olympics, unable to repeat her form from the Grand Prix a year earlier, Blake posted outside her national record of 2:19.34 and failed to advance further into the semifinals, as she was the last runner to cross the finish line in heat six. ^{[5][7][8][9][10]}

During her athletic career, Blake trained for the Zurrieq Wolves track and field team.^[11]