Blake was born inBuff Bay, Jamaica, where he started his young track career as ahurdler in the 400 m. After attending his brother's soccer game, he began testing his speed on track which a coach noticed and convinced him to switch to sprinting.[1] The Blake family moved to Canada in 2013, taking up residence inKelowna,British Columbia initially, and eventually moving toBurnaby.[2][1] Because he did not acquire Canadian citizenship until 2018, he was unable to participate in many international junior competitions, though he remarked that had he been born in Canada "I probably would have been playinghockey."[2] Blake competed for British Columbia at the2017 Canada Summer Games where he won gold in both the 100 m and 200 m.[1]
In the buildup to the2020 Summer Olympics, which was taking place in 2021 due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, Blake competed at the Canadian National Trials. There he placed in second place, and as a result, Blake was named toCanada's Olympic team.[3][4] He then set a new personal best just before the games, running 10.15 seconds inStockholm in early July.[1] As a part of the4 × 100 m relay team, he won a bronze medal in the4 × 100 m relay.[5] On 18 February 2022,Great Britain was stripped of its silver medal in the men's4 × 100 m relay after theCourt of Arbitration for Sport confirmedCJ Ujah's doping violation. Canada was upgraded to silver.[6][7]
Following the Olympic season, Blake enjoyed a breakout year in terms of individual results, beginning with an upset victory in the 100 m at the USATF Bermuda Games that saw him finish ahead of American starsNoah Lyles andErriyon Knighton.[2][8] On the2022 Diamond League circuit, he won a bronze medal at theBritish Grand Prix inBirmingham. The Canadian relay team won gold in the4 × 100 m at the same event.[9] In the 200 m, Blake won theGolden Spike Ostrava on May 31, narrowly beatingElijah Hall at the line.[10]
At the2022 World Athletics Championships inEugene, Oregon, Blake did not make it out of the heats of the100 m, but qualified to the semi-finals of the200 m. Finishing third in his semi-final, he did not advance further, noting that it "wasn't what I wanted, but it is what it is. It's my first world championships, and I made it to the semifinals."[11] In advance of the4 × 100 m relay, the prospects of the Canadian team were called into question due to anchor runnerAndre De Grasse's struggles withCOVID-19 infection shortly before the championships.[12] However, the Canadian team qualified for the finals with the third-fastest time in the heats, only 0.01 seconds out of second. In the final, the Canadians staged a major upset victory over the heavily favoured American team to take the gold medal, aided by smooth baton exchanges while the Americans made multiple fumbles, breaking the national record in the process. This was Canada's third gold in the event, and the others being consecutiveDonovan Bailey-era wins in1995 and1997.[13] The result "stunned" the heavily American crowd atHayward Field, though De Grasse noted, "there's a lot of Canadian flags out there, a lot of fans cheering us on."[14][15] Blake ran an 8.86 time on the second leg of the race, critical to the result.[14]
The2023 World Athletics Championships proved a disappointment for the Canadian team, who were eliminated in the heats of the4 × 100 metres relay and thus were unable to attempt a defence of its World title.[17] In the leadup to the2024 Summer Olympics, to be held inParis, Blake joined the Canadian team at the2024 World Athletics Relays, where they won the silver medal in the4 × 100 metres relay, in the process securing Olympic qualification in that event as well.[18] In the4 × 100 metres relay event, the team finished third in their heat, and with the slowest time of the eight teams that reached the event final.[19] In the final, the Canadians ran a season's best time of 37.50 and captured the gold medal, in what was widely considered a major upset victory, with a botched baton exchange ending the hopes of the heavily favoured American team. The result was heralded as one of the bigger surprises of the Paris Olympics.[20][21][22] Blake called the result "a four person effort coming together to create something that everyone counted us out but us."[23]
At the 27th Anhalt Meeting inDessau, Blake won the 100 metres in a wind-legal time of 9.97 seconds, breaking the10-second barrier for the first time in his career.[25]
