 Sanderson in 2008 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Theresa Ione Sanderson |
| Nationality | British (English) |
| Born | (1956-03-14)14 March 1956 (age 69) St Elizabeth, Colony of Jamaica |
| Years active | 1973–1997 |
| Height | 168 cm (5 ft 6 in) |
| Weight | 70 kg (154 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Athletics |
Event | Javelin throw |
| Club | WBAC |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personalbest | 73.58 m (241.4 ft) (1983) |
Medal record | |
Theresa Ione SandersonCBE (born 14 March 1956) is a British formerjavelin thrower. She appeared in everySummer Olympics from 1976 to 1996, winning the gold medal in thejavelin throw at the 1984 Olympics. She was the secondtrack and field athlete to compete atsix Olympics, and the first Black British woman to win an Olympic gold medal.
Sanderson won gold medals in the javelin throw at three Commonwealth Games (1978,1986 and1990) and at the1992 IAAF World Cup. She was runner-up at the1978 European Athletics Championships, and competed in three world championships (1983,1987, and1997). Sanderson wasUK National Champion three times andAAA National Champion in amateur athletics ten times. She set fiveCommonwealth records and tenBritish national records in the javelin, as well as records at the junior andmasters levels. During her career, Sanderson had a rivalry with fellow BritonFatima Whitbread, who took the bronze in the 1984 Olympics.
Outside athletics, Sanderson has made several guest television appearances, and was a sports reporter forSky News when it began broadcasting in 1989. Sanderson was appointed aMember of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1985 and became a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2004New Years Honours. She was Vice-chair ofSport England from 1999 to 2005, and later established the Tessa Sanderson Foundation and Academy, which aims to encourage young people and people with disabilities to take up sport.
Theresa Ione Sanderson was born on 14 March 1956 inSt Elizabeth, Colony of Jamaica.[1] Her parents left Jamaica to find work in England when Sanderson was five. She was cared for by her grandmother until she went to live with her parents inWednesfield (then inStaffordshire) at age six. Barbara Richards, herphysical education teacher atWard's Bridge High School, noted her talent for athletics and encouraged her to succeed; Richards threatened to place Sanderson inafter-school detention if she did not train, an approach which Sanderson later said helped.[2][3] She first threw ajavelin at age 14, betting with a friend for a bag ofchips on who would be able to throw it further.[4]
Sanderson was a member ofWolverhampton & Bilston Athletics Club, competing in thejavelin throw and multi-event disciplines.[1] In 1972, aged 16, Sanderson won the Intermediate javelin event at theEnglish Schools' Athletics Championships.[1] She was selected to compete in the javelin throw at the1973 European Athletics Junior Championships the following year, where she reached the final but finished 12th with a throw of 39.18 m (128 ft6+1⁄2 in) – well behind the winner, Tonya Khristova of Bulgaria, who threw 54.84 m (179 ft 11 in).[5]: 17–18 Sanderson then decided to focus on the javelin throw rather than thepentathlon, partly because she thought that javelin competitions would provide more opportunities for travel.[5] She made her senior international debut in the javelin throw at the1974 British Commonwealth Games, finishing fifth. Later that year, Sanderson finished 13th in the1974 European Athletics Championships. She broke the British javelin-throw junior record five times, achieving a distance of 55.04 m (180 ft6+3⁄4 in) in 1974. Sanderson set thenational record in 1976, throwing 56.14 m (184 ft 2 in), and went on to set ten national records and fiveCommonwealth records.[1]
The 1976 season saw Sanderson's debut at theOlympics. Aged 20, she was the youngest competitor in her event and threw 57.00 m (187 ft 0 in) to finish ninth.[1] In July 1977, at theEuropean Cup semi-finals in Dublin, she threw 67.20 m (220 ft5+1⁄2 in) – a national record and the second-longest distance by a woman at the time.[6] At the European Cup finals,Ruth Fuchs of East Germany won the gold and Sanderson took the silver.[7] Later that year, Sanderson was the bronze medalist at the1977 IAAF World Cup.[8]
Sanderson won her first majorgold medal with a throw of 61.34 m (201 ft2+3⁄4 in) in the1978 Commonwealth Games, the first time England had won Commonwealth gold in the women's javelin since1962.[1] A few weeks later, Sanderson took silver at the1978 European Athletics Championships behind Fuchs;[9] she was the bronze medalist at the1979 European Cup again behind Fuchs, both of them losing out to RomanianÉva Ráduly-Zörgő.[10] Selected for the1980 Summer Olympics, she failed to meet the qualifying standard for the final, reaching only 48.76 m (159 ft11+1⁄2 in) with her first throw and having her other two attempts declared no-throws.[11]
After the1980 Summer Olympic Games, Sanderson askedWilf Paish of the Carnegie Institute of Physical Education inLeeds to become her coach,[2] and lived with his family once he agreed.[12] A throw of 61.56 m (201 ft11+1⁄2 in) was enough for Sanderson to win at the1981 Pacific Conference Games.[13] At the1981 European Cup, she was runner-up behindAntoaneta Todorova of Bulgaria who made a world-record throw of 71.88 m (235 ft9+3⁄4 in).[14] She also competed in thepentathlon and heptathlon,[1] setting UK and Commonwealth records for the heptathlon twice in 1981.[15] Later that year, Sanderson had anachilles tendon rupture in her left leg and broke a bone in her throwing arm. Surgery on her Achilles tendon was unsuccessful, and she required another operation; the injuries prevented her from competing for 22 months.[2] After returning, Sanderson achieved her career-best javelin throw of 73.58 m (241 ft4+3⁄4 in) at theTarmac Games in Edinburgh on 26 June 1983. It was the third-longest throw by a woman at the time, when the record was 74.76 m (245 ft3+1⁄4 in) thrown byTiina Lillak of Finland ten days previously.[16][17] Sanderson finished fourth at the1983 World Championships; another British competitor,Fatima Whitbread, who was coming to the fore as her rival, won silver.[18][19] After re-injuring her Achilles tendon at the championship, Sanderson had surgery on both Achilles tendons a few days after the competition ended.[2]
Sanderson won the gold medal at the1984 Summer Olympics in the javelin, setting a new Olympic record with her throw of 69.56 m (228 ft2+1⁄2 in). Whitbread won the bronze; it was Great Britain's first Olympic win in a throwing event since the modern Olympics began in 1896.[20][21] Sanderson is the first Black British woman to win an Olympic gold medal.[22] Sanderson wrote in her 1986 autobiography that following her Olympic victory, she had not intended to compete in the following athletics season, but she did take part in several competitions after being persuaded by her management companyIMG to do so. Although she finished behind Whitbread in five successive meetings, Sanderson did produce the fourth-longest women's javelin throw of the year.[5]: 172 She won gold at the1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, and Whitbread took the silver medal.[23]
In March 1987, Sanderson announced that she would change her focus from the javelin throw to theheptathlon. Shortly before then, she had moved to London and was looking for a career in television or promotional work.[24] In fact, she only competed in one heptathlon after this, in July.[25] At the Dairy Crest Games in August, Whitbread (who had been undefeated during the season) injured her shoulder; Sanderson won the event. Sanderson then announced that she would train withMick Hill in Italy for theworld championships.[26] Whitbread won the world championship, and Sanderson finished fourth.[27]
About ten days before participating in the1988 Summer Olympics as defending champion, Sanderson burst the skin around her ankle and exposed her Achilles tendon.[28] She failed to qualify for the final and left the competition limping, with blood visible on the bandage on her injured ankle.[29] Sanderson left the stadium on crutches before the medal ceremony, where Whitbread received the silver medal behindPetra Felke from East Germany.[30]
Sanderson announced after the 1988 Olympics that she would retire from the javelin throw, but made an unexpected return to competition in 1989[31] at the McVitie's International Challenge; she finished third.[32] She also finished third at the1989 European Cup, despite not being in top condition.[33] At the1990 Commonwealth Games, a throw of 65.72 m (215 ft7+1⁄4 in) was enough for Sanderson to retain her title.[34] She finished 12th at the1990 European Athletics Championships,[35] but was later moved up to 11th.[36][37] Aged 35, Sanderson won at the1991 European Cup over a field which included world-record holder Felke.[38]
Her fifthOlympic Games appearance, at the1992 Summer Olympics, set a record for Olympic appearances by a British athlete.[39] Sanderson's best throw, 63.58 m (208 ft 7 in), was almost five metres less than the winning throw of 68.34 m (224 ft2+1⁄2 in) bySilke Renk and 3.28 metres less than bronze medalistKaren Forkel.[40] She won gold at the1992 World Cup with a throw of 61.86 m (202 ft11+1⁄4 in), nearly three metres further than any other competitor.[41]
Alan Hubbard wrote in a 1990 article inThe Observer about Sanderson and Whitbread that "their hate-hate relationship has been one of the most enduring in British sport", lasting almost a decade.[42] The same year,Matthew Engel wrote inThe Guardian that "the Sanderson-Whitbread feud is, of course, one of the most splendid in sport",[34] and Tom Lamont, in the same newspaper 29 years later, commented that "Whitbread and Sanderson were always uneasy rivals and the enmity that developed during their overlapping careers became as famous as their achievements, and seems to survive in their retirement".[12] Hubbard cited Sanderson's perception that Whitbread received preferential treatment from theBritish Amateur Athletic Board. The Board's promotions officer, Andy Norman, who had a role in setting British athletes' fees, was a family friend of Whitbread and her mother and coach, Margaret.[43][42]Margaret Whitbread was also the national coach for women's javelin in 1985, when her daughter participated in many international events while Sanderson only competed in one in the season ending in June 1985.[44] In 1987, Sanderson threatened to boycott athletics events, for which she was being paid £1,000 each by British Athletics compared to Whitbread's £10,000. Sanderson agreed to a new deal at the beginning of June that year.[45] Sanderson also objected to the endorsement that the Whitbreads had given to the Australian athleteSue Howland, who competed at the 1990 Commonwealth Games after a two-year doping suspension, saying that she felt that they should have supported British athletes instead.[42][46]
During their respective careers, Sanderson won an Olympic and three Commonwealth golds, and Whitbread gained one world and one European title.[47] In all, Sanderson placed higher in 27 of the 45 times that they faced each other in competition, although Whitbread had the better results of the pair from 1984 to 1987.[1] In 2019, Sanderson told an interviewer fromThe Daily Telegraph that although she had initially been on friendly terms with Whitbread, before "the competition got to Whitbread's head" and they fell out, "The rivalry was one of the best things when you look at it now. It drove me to another level. It made me want to beat her every time. It's calmer now. I respect her and I hope she respects me."[47]
After a four-year hiatus, Sanderson returned to track and field competition in 1996.[48] She setmasters (over-40) record throws of 58.18 m (190 ft10+1⁄2 in) and 60.64 m (198 ft11+1⁄4 in) with her first two throws in May, surpassing the previous record of 51.84 m (170 ft3⁄4 in).[1] After two further masters-record throws,[1] Sanderson increased the record to 64.06 m (210 ft 2 in) at theSecuricor Games in July.[48][1] At the1996 Summer Olympics, she became the secondtrack and field athlete (after Romanian discus throwerLia Manoliu) to compete atsix Olympics but did not qualify for the final.[49] Sanderson also failed to qualify for the final at the1997 World Championships, her last international appearance.[1] Sanderson retired from competition in 1997; Whitbread had retired five years earlier.[12]
During the 1970s, theuse of performance-enhancing drugs was common in throwing events; Sanderson spoke against the practice,[50] consistently maintaining an anti-doping stance.[5]: 159–165 [22] Her rival, two-time Olympic champion Fuchs, later admitted usingsteroids in theEast German sports programme. The East German team did not compete in the1984 Olympic Games as they participated in a widerboycott led by the Soviet Union.[51][52] Sanderson told reporters fromThe Daily Telegraph in 2021 that she felt during her career she had been "robbed" of medals by losing to competitors using drugs.[52]
Sanderson has appeared as a guest on several television shows, includingpanel gamesA Question of Sport (in 1979),Bullseye (1984), Through the Keyhole (1987),Catchphrase Celebrity Special (1991) andCelebrity Wife Swap (2009).[53][54] WhenSky News was launched in 1989, Sanderson was a sports reporter for the channel,[55] and she also co-hostedITV's light-entertainment programmeSurprise Surprise withCilla Black.[56] In 2012, Sanderson was in "Billy's Olympic Nightmare", aBBC Red Button episode of soap operaEastEnders,[57] and was a contestant on ITV'sDancing on Ice Goes Gold in the same year. At age 58, she began modelling for the Grey Model Agency.[3]
Sanderson was vice-chair ofSport England from 1999 to 2005.[58] In 2006, she founded an academy inNewham which helped to find and train athletes to represent Britain in the2012 Summer Olympics.[59] The Tessa Sanderson Foundation and Academy was established in September 2009 to encourage young people and people with disabilities to take up sport with mentoring and support.[60]
From 2009 to 2013, Sanderson organised an annual 10 km race in Newham; part of the route was throughOlympic Park. Although the 2013 event attracted 3,000 participants (representing 45 different nationalities), it was cancelled in 2014; Sanderson said that the Newham Council wanted to double its fee, and delayed meeting about the race.[61][62] Sanderson was appointed to the board of the Olympic Park Legacy Company, chaired byBaroness Ford, to "develop and manage" the park after the 2012 Olympics.[63][64]
Sanderson, theBritish Athletics Writers' Association Athlete of the Year in 1977, 1978 and 1984,[65] was inducted into theEngland Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012.[66] Candidates for the Hall of Fame are selected by a panel of experts and then voted on by the public.[67] She was appointed aMember of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the1985 New Year Honours after her Olympic gold-medal performance, raised to Officer (OBE) in the1998 New Year Honours for her charity work, and to Commander (CBE) in the2004 New Year Honours for her service to Sport England.[68]
Sanderson is an honorary graduate of theUniversity of Wolverhampton,[69] and was made an Honorary Fellow ofLondon South Bank University in 2004.[70] That year, she was one of100 Great Black Britons in a poll taken after the BBC's100 Greatest Britons failed to include any Black Britons.[71][72] Later that year, Sanderson received a Sportswomen of the Year Lifetime Achievement award fromThe Sunday Times.[73] A housing estate in Wednesfield near where she began learning the javelin throw was named Sanderson Park after her.[74] Two roads are named after her: Tessa Sanderson Place is nearWandsworth Road in South London,[75] and Tessa Sanderson Way is inGreenford, West London.[76]
Sanderson has spoken about the discrimination she has experienced as a black woman. She toldThe Guardian in 1990 that she had facedracial discrimination (although not in her sporting career), and she felt thatsexism was the reason women athletes were not adequately paid.[77] Sanderson experiencedracist language and behaviour in school (including being spat on),[22] and has spoken about receiving a racist letter saying that she was not truly British after her 1984 Olympic gold medal.[78] She toldSky Sports in October 2020, "Black athletes didn't have the voice they have now, so I just had to fight my own battles", and expressed disappointment at the continuing lack of Black, Asian and minority representation in sports governing bodies.[78]
Tessa: My Life in Athletics, Sanderson's autobiography, was published in 1986.[79] In 1990, she sued several newspapers and was awarded £30,000 indamages by theHigh Court of Justice for claims that she had "stolen another woman's husband". Sanderson said that her affair with the man, Derrick Evans (a fitness instructor known asMr Motivator) began after his marriage had broken up.[4] Sanderson had starred in the fitness videosCardiofunk (1990) andBody Blitz (c. 1992) with Evans.[80][81]
On 3 May 2010, Sanderson married formerjudo OlympianDensign White atSt Paul's Cathedral in London. Her bridesmaids were fellow Olympic teammatesSharron Davies,Kelly Holmes andChristine Ohuruogu.[82] She had three unsuccessfulin vitro fertilisation treatments by the age of 50. Sanderson and White began fostering four-month-old twins Cassius and Ruby Mae in 2013 and adopted them the following year, when Sanderson was 58.[3][83] Her nephew,Dion Sanderson, is a footballer who debuted withWolverhampton Wanderers in October 2019.[84]
| Event | Best | Date | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Javelin throw | 73.58 m | 26 June 1983 | inEdinburgh | [16] |
| 200 m | 24.89 s | July 1981 | Brussels (European Cup semi-final) | [1][85] |
| 400 m | 57.3 s | 1972 | [1] | |
| 800 m | 2:26.20 | July 1981 | Brussels (European Cup semi-final) | [1][85] |
| 100 m hurdles | 13.46 s | 25 July 1981 | atCrystal Palace | [1][86] |
| 400 m hurdles | 60.46 s | 11 June 1977 | Cwmbran Stadium (1977 UK Athletics Championships) | [1][87] |
| High jump | 1.69 m | 13 January 1973 | at theCosford Games | [1][5]: 177 |
| Long jump | 5.97 m | July 1981 | Brussels (European Cup semi-final) | [1][85] |
| Shot put | 13.27 m | 1981 | [1] | |
| Heptathlon | 6125 pts | July 1981 | Brussels (European Cup semi-final) | [1][85] |
| 60 m hurdles (indoors) | 8.5 s | 26 February 1977 | atCosford | [1][5]: 170 |
| Pentathlon (indoors) | 3623 pts | 1973 | [1] |
The table below shows Sanderson's best javelin performance per season.[5]: 181 [88]
Sanderson's position in the rankings of women's javelin throw athletes, based on their longest throw in the year. Only positions in the top 25 are shown.[88]
The table shows Sanderson's performances representing Great Britain and England in international competitions.
"(q)" denotes position in qualifying round.
These were competitions for women based in the EnglishMidlands counties ofAvon,Gloucestershire,Hereford and Worcester,Leicestershire,Northamptonshire,Nottinghamshire,Salop,Staffordshire,Warwickshire andWest Midlands.[106][c]
By 1983, Britain's Fatima Whitbread had emerged as a serious rival [to Sanderson]
{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)Commonwealth Games champions in women'sjavelin throw | |
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