Yohan Blake

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yohan Blake
 Blake at the 2012 Memorial Van Damme

Personal information

Nationality Jamaica

Born 26 December 1989 (age 34)[1][2]

St. James, Jamaica[1]

Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]

Weight 80 kg (176 lb)[1]

Sport

Sport Track and field

Event(s) 100 m, 200 m

Club Racers Track Club (2009–2019)

Gregory Little (since 2020)

Coached by
Patrick Dawson (2019)

Glen Mills (2009–2019)

Achievements and titles

Personal bests 100 m: 9.69 (Lausanne 2012)

200 m: 19.26 (Brussels 2011)

400 m: 46.32 (Kingston 2013)

hide

Medal record

Representing Jamaica
Men's athletics
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 2 2 0
World Championships 2 0 0
World Relays 2 0 1
Commonwealth Games 0 0 2
World Junior Championships 1 1 1
Pan American Junior Championships 0 1 1
CAC Junior Championships 3 0 0
CARIFTA Games (Junior) 5 0 0
CARIFTA Games (Youth) 2 0 0
Total 17 4 5
Olympic Games
2012 London 4×100 m relay
2016 Rio de Janeiro 4×100 m relay
2012 London 100 m
2012 London 200 m
World Championships
2011 Daegu 100 m
2011 Daegu 4×100 m relay
Commonwealth Games
2018 Gold Coast 100 m
2018 Gold Coast 4×100 m relay
World Relays
2014 Bahamas 4×100 m
2014 Bahamas 4×200 m
2017 Bahamas 4×200 m
World Junior Championships
2006 Beijing 4×100 m relay
2008 Bydgoszcz 4×100 m relay
2006 Beijing 100 m
Pan American Junior Championships
2007 São Paulo 100 m
2007 São Paulo 4×400 m relay
CAC Junior Championships (U20)
2006 Port of Spain 100 m
2006 Port of Spain 200 m
2006 Port of Spain 4×100 m relay
CARIFTA Games (Junior)
2006 Les Abymes 200 m
2006 Les Abymes 4×100 m relay
2007 Providenciales 100 m
2007 Providenciales 4×100 m relay
2008 Basseterre 100 m
CARIFTA Games (Youth)
2005 Bacolet 100 m
2005 Bacolet 200 m

Representing Americas
Continental Cup
2018 Ostrava 4×100 m
Yohan Blake (born 26 December 1989) is a Jamaican sprinter specialising in the 100-
metre and 200-metre sprint races. He won gold at the 100m at the 2011 World Athletics
Championships as the youngest 100m world champion ever, and a silver medal in the
2012 Olympic Games in London in the 100m and 200m races for the Jamaican team
behind Usain Bolt. His times of 9.75 in 100m and 19.44 in 200m are the fastest 100m
and 200m Olympic sprints in history to not win the gold medal.
Blake is the second fastest man ever in both 100 m and 200 m. Together with Tyson
Gay, he is the joint second fastest man ever over 100 m with a personal best of
9.69 seconds, with a - 0.2 wind, which he ran on 23 August 2012.[3] Only Usain Bolt has
run faster (9.58s, 9.63s, and 9.69s).[4] His personal best for the 200 m (19.26 seconds) is
the second fastest time ever after Bolt (19.19 seconds).[5] Blake holds the Jamaican
national junior record for the 100 metres, and was the youngest sprinter to have broken
the 10-second barrier at 19 years, 196 days old before Trayvon Bromell ran 100m in
9.97 seconds at 18 years 11 months and 3 days old.[6][7][8] As such, Blake is considered
one of the best sprinters of all time.
Blake was coached by Glen Mills until 2019. His training partners were Usain
Bolt and Daniel Bailey.[9]
Early life[edit]
Blake attended Green Park Primary and Junior High School in the Parish of Clarendon.
[10]
He was discovered as a young talent from Davis Primary School by coach Carlton
Solan. While he was at Green Park, Hopeton Bailey was the Head of the PE
Department and the overall sports coordinator. Blake attended St. Jago High
School in Spanish Town where his first sporting love was cricket. Blake was a fast
bowler, and it was only after the school Principal saw how quickly he ran to the wicket
that he was urged to try sprinting.[11]
Career[edit]
Junior[edit]
Blake set the fastest time by a Jamaican junior sprinter over 100 m with 10.11 seconds.
[12]
The record was set at the 2007 CARIFTA Games held in the Turks and Caicos
islands where he was also a member of the winning 4x100m relay team.[13] At this
occasion, he was awarded the Austin Sealy Trophy for the most outstanding athlete of
the 2007 CARIFTA Games.[14][15]
In 2008 when Usain Bolt was asked in an interview whether there were any sprinters
that could challenge him, Bolt named his training partner Blake, saying "Watch out for
Yohan Blake. He works like a beast. He's there with me step for step in training." The
"Beast" nickname stuck.[16]
Blake won the 100 metre "B" race at the 2009 Reebok Grand Prix.[17] His exploits at
the Golden Gala in July represented a significant improvement. He proved himself to be
a serious competitor at the senior level: he took third place behind Tyson
Gay and Asafa Powell and improved his personal best with a 10-second barrier-
breaking run of 9.96 seconds,[18] becoming the youngest athlete ever to do so.[19] He
improved to 9.93 seconds shortly after, taking third place behind training partners Bolt
and Daniel Bailey at the Meeting Areva.[20]
Drug ban[edit]
Prior to the 2009 World Championships, Blake (along with Marvin Anderson and Sheri-
Ann Brooks) tested positive for the stimulant 4-methyl-2-hexanamine.[21][22] A disciplinary
panel organised by the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) cleared him of a
doping infraction on the grounds that the drug was not on the World Anti-Doping
Agency's banned list. However, JADCO appealed their own panel's ruling, stating that
the athlete should be disciplined as the drug was similar in structure to the banned
substance tuaminoheptane.[23] As the panel would resolve the issue after the World
Championships, the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association took the precaution of
withdrawing Blake from the relay race.[24] The appeals tribunal decided that a ban would
be appropriate, and Blake and the three other sprinters each received a three-month
ban from competition.[25]
2011[edit]
At the 2011 World Championships, Blake comfortably made the final. Following the
disqualification of compatriot Usain Bolt, Blake won the gold medal in a time of 9.92
seconds.[26][27] At 21 years, 245 days, Blake also became the youngest 100 metres world
champion ever, surpassing Carl Lewis, who won the event at the 1983 World
Championships at the age of 22 years, 38 days.[28] At these World Championships,
alongside Bolt, Nesta Carter and Michael Frater, Blake won gold in the 4×100 m
relay final and broke the world record (set by the Jamaican team at the Beijing
Olympics in 2008) with a time of 37.04 seconds.[29][30]
At the 2011 IAAF Diamond League meeting in Zurich, Blake beat Asafa Powell in the
100 m with a personal best of 9.82 seconds. The following week in Brussels, Blake set
a 2011 world leading time in the 200 m with a personal best of 19.26 seconds, the
second fastest time in history. He improved more than half of a second (0.52 s) from his
previous best of 19.78 s set in Monaco in 2010.[31][5] In this particular race, his reaction
time was relatively slow (0.269 s) and had he made even an average start, he could
have comfortably set a new world record.[32]
2012[edit]
 Blake doing his signature "Beast" move at the 2012
Olympics
Blake began his 2012 season strongly, registering the first sub-10-second time of the
season (9.90 s) at April's UTech Classic.[33] He went on to register a 9.84 second run at
the Cayman Invitational prior to the Jamaican Olympic trials, where he beat Usain Bolt
over 100 metres with a time of 9.75 seconds. He also won the 200 metres with a time of
19.80 s ahead of Bolt at 19.83 s.
The 2012 London Olympics was the first Olympics that Blake participated in. He came
in as a serious threat to Bolt's 100 m title. In the 100 m final he placed second to Bolt in
a time of 9.75 seconds. He also followed Bolt home in the final of the 200 metres where
he won the silver medal in a time of 19.44 seconds, the fastest non-winning time in
history.[34]
In the 4×100 m final, Blake ran the third leg as the Jamaicans won gold, setting a
new world record time of 36.84 seconds.
On 23 August 2012, at the Athletissima Diamond League meet in Lausanne,
Switzerland, Blake ran the 100 metres in 9.69 seconds, tying him with Tyson Gay as the
second fastest man in history, behind Bolt.[35]
2013[edit]
Blake suffered a hamstring injury in April 2013. After running 20.72 seconds over 200 m
in the Jamaica Nationals on 8 June, thus failing to qualify for the 200 m event at the
2013 Moscow World Championships, Blake pulled out of the 100 m event of the World
Championships, for which he had an automatic entry as the defending world champion.
2014[edit]
Blake tried competing again in 2014, but placed 6th at the 200 m Lausanne Diamond
League event, with a time of 20.48 seconds. He then suffered another hamstring injury
and fell at the 40 metre mark during the Glasgow Diamond League 100 m race shortly
after that, ending his season. Prior to the end of his season however, Blake anchored
Jamaica in the 4x200m relay at the first edition of the I.A.A.F. World Relays in Bahamas
to gold which was also broke the previous world record of 1:18.68.
2015[edit]
Blake decided he was ready to race again in 2015 after recovering from injuries in 2013
and 2014. He failed to advance from the Jamaica Outdoor national championship semi-
final in the 100 metres, placing ninth with a time of 10.36 seconds, with the top 8
advancing to the finals. He did not participate in the 200 m trials after that. [36]
2016[edit]
Blake made a strong comeback in 2016, running his first sub-ten since 2012—a 9.95 s
in the 100 m at the 2016 Kingston MVP Track and Field meet. He then went on to
defend both his 100 m and 200 m national titles in 9.92 seconds and 20.29 seconds
respectively, in the absence of an injured Usain Bolt.
In the 2016 Summer Olympics, he progressed into the 100 m final, where he finished
fourth in a season's best 9.93 seconds. Unfortunately, he failed to do as well in the 200
m, finishing 6th in his semi-final and failing to advance forward. However, Blake won his
second career Olympic gold running the second leg in the 4 × 100 m relay.[citation needed]
2017[edit]
2017 proved to be a slight repeat of 2016 for Blake. Despite his teammates dropping
the baton in the 4 × 100 metres at the 2017 IAAF World Relays, he was able to anchor
his team to a bronze medal in the 4 × 200 metres. Later on in the season, he continued
to post 100 m times superior to his 2016 season. At the Jamaican National
Championships, he once again completed a double by clocking 9.90 s in the 100 m, and
19.97 s in the 200 m. His 9.90 s was the second fastest time that season, and his 200 m
was not only his first sub-20 since 2012 and massive improvement from his previous
season, but also tied for the sixth fastest time of the year. After the championships,
Blake shaved his signature braids.[citation needed]
At the 2017 World Championships in Athletics in London, Blake finished in fourth place
yet again in the 100 m final. This time, he clocked 9.99 seconds, just 0.04 behind Usain
Bolt, who failed to win his last individual race and instead settled for bronze. Blake was
one of the only four men who went under ten seconds during the race, the others being
Bolt, silver medalist Christian Coleman, and gold medalist Justin Gatlin. Just as he did
in Rio the previous year, Blake failed to progress into the 200 m final, though he was
ranked closer this time with 11th overall and a slower 20.52 s to come third in his heat.
After this, Blake looked forward to the Men's 4 × 100 metres relay, his last chance at a
medal at the championships, and Usain Bolt's final race. During the race, Bolt pulled up
50 metres from the finish line in what was later confirmed to be another hamstring
injury. Blake helped the injured Bolt, who refused a wheelchair, to his feet. Blake left the
championships with no medals.[citation needed]
2018[edit]
Blake started his 2018 season early, in preparation for the 2018 Commonwealth
Games. Despite a seasonal best of 10.05 s in the 100 m, he was still considered as the
event's favorite. Blake qualified comfortably for the 100 m final with the fastest time in
both the heats and the semis. However, he stumbled out of the blocks in the final, and
despite his strong efforts to recover, he ultimately placed third in 10.19 seconds,
behind Henricho Bruintjies and Akani Simbine of South Africa. Blake won another
bronze in the Men's 4 × 100 m relay. After the Games, Blake focused on the Jamaican
National Championships, hoping to win his third straight national title. However, he false
started in the semi-finals, disqualifying his chances. He also opted out of the 200 m.
Later on in the season, Blake continued to progress in the 100 m with two sub-tens. [citation
needed]

2019[edit]
In January 2019, coach Glen Mills reported that he had parted ways with Blake after a
disagreement. Blake switched to Patrick Dawson, and would continue to workout at the
Racers Track Club site. Months later, Blake and numerous former members of Racers
Track Club accused Mills of favoring Usain Bolt. Despite the controversy, Blake took
home the national 100m title for the 4th time, and finished 2nd in the 200m. He also won
the Birmingham Diamond League 100m en route to the 2019 World Championships in
Doha. There, he managed to place 5th in the 100m final with a time of 9.97, but was
unable to make it past the 200m semi final, placing 6th with a time of 20.37. [citation needed]
Following his disappointing performance at the World Championships, Blake switched
coaches once again to Gregory Little.[citation needed]
2021[edit]
Yohan Blake started his season at National Stadium, Kingston. On 13 March 2021,
Blake ran 100m in 10.29 seconds (0.0 m/s) there. On 24 April, he smashed his season
best at 10.27 (+0.2 m/s).
On 2 May, Blake reached sub-ten performance clocking 9.98 seconds at the National
Training Centre, Clermont, USA. But with the wind value being 2.7 m/s, the time
became illegal.
Again on 5 June, his run of 9.97 seconds was turned down due to 2.1 m/s wind in
Florida, USA.
Then, Blake ran an impressive 9.95 (+0.1 m/s) at the American Track League on 9 July
2021.
Tokyo Olympics[edit]
Blake had a disappointing Summer Olympics. He failed to advance to the final of
the 100m, placing sixth in his semifinal heat with a time of 10.14. He stated his leg had
been bothering him.[37] No Jamaican man qualified for the Olympic final, something that
had not happened since the 2000 Summer Olympics.[38] He and his Jamaican
teammates came in fifth in the 4 x 100 m relay. He did not compete in the 200m.
Personal bests