Tasha De'Anka Danvers (born 19 September 1977) is a British

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

bronze medallist, who finished in third place in the

400 metres hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once ...

at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She was born in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

to two athletes, Dorrett McKoy and Donald Danvers, who both moved to the United Kingdom from

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

as children.

Athletics career

In 1999, she represented Great Britain at the

1999 World Championships in Athletics The 7th World Championships in Athletics, a World Athletic Championships event held under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Estadio Olímpico, Seville, Spain, between the August 20 and Augu ...

with a time of 56.66 seconds in the heats. This failed to see her qualify through the rounds; however it gave her vital experience, which she took on to the following year at the

2000 Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

. At the age of 23, Danvers made the final of her first Olympic games, finishing in 8th place, after going out too hard. The following year, she won the

400 m hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once a ...

at the

2001 Summer Universiade The 2001 Summer Universiade, also known as the XXI Summer Universiade, was an international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, between 22 August and 1 September. A total of 6,757 athletes from 165 nations took part in 12 spor ...

. In 2002, she attended her first

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

, in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. She finished 7th in the final, behind the winner

Jana Pittman Jana Pittman (born 9 November 1982) is an Australian former athlete. During her athletic career Pittman specialised in the 400 metres run and 400-metre hurdles events. She is a two-time world champion in the 400 m hurdles, from 2003 and 200 ...

of Australia. An athlete she would meet in the future,

Melaine Walker Melaine Walker O.D (born 1 March 1983) is a Jamaican 400 metres hurdler. She was born in Kingston. Walker is the former Olympic 400 m hurdles champion.Lewis, Richard (2009-08-20)For Walker, World record assault next item on the agenda?". ''I ...

, finished in 4th place. That same year, she also finished 7th in the

2002 European Athletics Championships The 18th European Athletics Championships were held from 6 August to 11 August 2002 in the Olympic Stadium of Munich, Germany. Men's results Track 1994 , 1998 , 2002 , 2006 , 2010 , 1 Dwain Chambers originally won the 100 m in 9.96 and was pa ...

. In 2003, she married her Coach, Darrell Smith, the nephew of sprint coach John Smith. From that season, she was styled as Tasha Danvers-Smith. Danvers reverted to her maiden name in 2008; the couple divorced the following year. Danvers-Smith missed her second Olympics, as she had taken time out for child-birth. This was criticised by many, including the British Olympic Medalist

Alan Pascoe Alan Peter Pascoe (born 11 October 1947) is a British former athlete who gained success in hurdles. After his athletics career, he has been successful in events marketing and consulting. Early life and education Pascoe was born in Portsmouth, ...

, who called her "stupid", as most people thought she would never make a return to competitive athletics. She returned in 2006 to take a silver medal in the

, behind Pittman, as well as a seventh place in the final of the European Championships. At the end of this year, she reached a career high of 6th in the IAAF rankings. While competing for the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

(USC), Danvers won several Pac-10 conference titles and competed in several events including the high jump and the 100 m hurdles. Tasha won the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

title in 2000 her second year as captain of the Women of Troy. She holds the USC school record in the 400 hurdles and on the

4x400 metres relay Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case ...

while also showing up in the top 10 in the

100 metres hurdles The 100 metres hurdles, or 100-meter hurdles, is a track and field event run mainly by women (the male counterpart is the 110 metres hurdles). For the race, ten hurdles of a height of are placed along a straight course of . The first hurdle is ...

and high jump. After the Sydney Olympics, she returned to Los Angeles to finish her degree in Music Business and joined the famed training group HSI. In February 2007, Danvers was inducted into the USC Hall of Fame. Returning to the world scene in 2006, Danvers won her first global medal at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games, a silver. She ended the summer as the sixth ranked hurdler in the world, setting the stage for her 2007 and 2008 seasons, and reclaiming her position as Britain's number one 400 m hurdler. In 2007 Danvers made her first World Championship final, in a near personal best, 54.08 s. She drew lane 2 in the final and took 8th, but finished the season with a strong run of races following Osaka, finishing the season ranked number 10 by Track and Field News. She remained the British number one for the 2nd consecutive year. In 2008, Danvers' athletics season started badly. She had

achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus ( grc-gre, Ἀχιλλεύς) was a hero of the Trojan War, the greatest of all the Greek warriors, and the central character of Homer's '' Iliad''. He was the son of the Nereid Thetis and Pele ...

problems, and tore her

hamstring In human anatomy, a hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee (from medial to lateral: semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris). The hamstrings are susceptible to injury. In quadrupe ...

on her first training session back from the Achilles tendon injury. At that year's British championships she recorded a disappointing time of 57.00 s, finishing in 2nd place far below her personal best. The race was won by the young athlete Perri Shakes Drayton. When the Olympic team was announced the following week, many criticised the selection of Danvers, as Shakes Drayton was an improving athlete, and Danvers, in many people's opinions, had reached her peak. However, Danvers attended the Olympics, winning her heat, and finishing 2nd in her semi-final, being the 4th fastest qualifier for the

final. Danvers was in lane 7, one inside of ones of the favourites Tiffany Ross Williams. On entering the final straight, Danvers found herself in 3rd place. A part of the race that had been disastrous for her in the past, seemed to be in her favour, as she stormed down the straight closing down on the athlete ahead of her. She won a bronze medal in the final, with a personal best of 53.84s, behind Melaine Walker of Jamaica and Sheena Tosta of the United States. Danvers missed the

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg ...

due to injury. In 2010, she was inducted into the

London Youth Games Hall of Fame The Balfour Beatty London Youth Games Hall of Fame was created in 2009 to recognise former London Youth Games competitors who have gone on to world class sporting careers and to celebrate the role the Games have had in their development. Since it ...

. In June 2012, Danvers retired because of a series of injury problems.

Other

Danvers is a keen artist an
member of Art of the Olympians (AOTO)
She started singing from an early age, and currently paints canvases. Her work is on sale at She is also a public speaker, coach and personal trainer, as well as becoming a prominent fitness model. As a youngster she competed for

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

in the

London Youth Games The London Youth Games is an annual multi-sport event held in London, England. The London Youth Games offer competitive opportunities for young people aged 7 to 18 (who live or go to school in London) across approximately 30 sports every year. T ...

.http://www.londonyouthgames.org/page.asp?section=23§ionTitle=Hall+of+Fame Hall of Fame retrieved 19 February 2013 She has also been on The BBC's ''A Question of Sport''. In June 2015 Danvers appeared as a contestant on American TV show Bullseye. She reached the final stage, but failed to win when she rolled her buggy.

Performance at Major Games

*Danvers only competed in the final, and did not run a leg in the heat.

Personal Bests

;Best Marks :300 m, 37.80 (2000) :400 m, 52.89 (2008) :100 m hurdles, 12.96 (2003) :400 m hurdles, 53.84 (2008) :High jump, 1.82 m 1998)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Danvers, Tasha 1977 births Living people Athletes from London British female hurdlers British female high jumpers Olympic female hurdlers Olympic athletes of Great Britain Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Universiade gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade gold medalists for Great Britain Medalists at the 1999 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2001 Summer Universiade British Athletics Championships winners AAA Championships winners Black British sportswomen English people of Jamaican descent