Joanna Blair

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Joanna Blair
Personal information
Born (1986-03-01) 1 March 1986 (age 35)
Luton, England
Sport
SportAthletics
hide
Medal record
Representing  Great Britain
Javelin
Commonwealth Youth Games
Silver medal – second place 2004 Bendigo Javelin
British Athletics Championships
Gold medal – first place 2016 Birmingham Javelin
Silver medal – second place 2017 Birmingham Javelin

Joanna Blair (born 1 March 1986)[1] is a British javelin thrower who won the javelin event at the 2016 British Athletics Championships and England Athletics Championships, and came second in the 2004 Commonwealth Youth Games.

Career[]

Blair trained at Luton Athletics Club, and also worked as a sports masseuse.[2] In 2003, she won the English Schools Senior Championship javelin event.[3] She came second in the javelin event at the 2004 Commonwealth Youth Games, behind Australian .[4] Blair competed at the 2005 European Athletics Junior Championships.[2] She came seventh in the 2010 South of England Championships, with a best throw of 42.20m.[5]

Blair won the javelin event at the 2016 British Athletics Championships, in a personal best distance of 57.44m, more than three metres better than her previous best.[2] It was the seventh best throw ever by a British female javelin thrower.[2] Later in the year, she won the England Athletics Championships with a best throw of 52.63m,[6] and she was named Luton's female sportsperson of the year.[7]

In 2017, she competed at the Nitro Athletics team event in Australia.[2][8] She failed to qualify for the 2017 World Championships in Athletics in London;[2] the qualifying distance was 61.50 metres.[8] She came second at the 2017 trial event for the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia, and was considered a contender for a place at the Games.[2] She came second to Laura Whittingham at the 2017 British Athletics Championships.[9] Blair competed at the 2017 European Team Championships.[2] It was her first international event for 11 years, and she finished ninth.[10] At the event, she failed an out of competition drugs test, after testing positive for anabolic steroid metandienone.[10] She was suspended by UK Anti-Doping (UKAD).[2] UKAD said they believed she had received a "contaminated supplement",[10] and Blair blamed contaminated creatine that she bought on the internet.[11] In 2018, she was given a backdated four year suspension until July 2021.[10][11]

References[]

  1. ^ "Joanna Blair". World Athletics. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i "British javelin thrower Joanna Blair suspended after failing anti-doping test". The Guardian. 2 October 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  3. ^ "English Schools Championships (Girls)". UK Athletics. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  4. ^ "High standards at the Commonwealth Youth Games". World Athletics. 4 December 2004. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  5. ^ "South of England Championships". Kent Messenger. 18 June 2010. Retrieved 4 February 2021 – via PressReader.
  6. ^ "Long jumper Daniel Gardiner knocks on door of eight metres with England win". Athletics Weekly. 31 July 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  7. ^ "Stars shine brightly at Luton Sports Network Awards night". Luton Today. 10 February 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b "Blair to take on Usain Bolt's All-Stars in Nitro Athletics event". Dunstable Today. 22 December 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  9. ^ "Joanna Blair, British javelin thrower, fails drug test". The Times. 3 October 2017. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Javelin thrower Joanna Blair handed four-year ban". Athletics Weekly. 3 August 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b "Joanna Blair: Great Britain javelin thrower banned for four years". BBC Sport. 3 August 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
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