Paul John Blake (born 15 January 1990) is a British athlete who competes in T36 middle-distance events. Blake competed at the 2012 Summer Paralympics where he won a silver and bronze medal in the 400m T36 and 800m T36 respectively. He followed this up with two gold medals at the 2013 and 2015 World Championships, both in his favoured 800m event.

Personal history

Born in Dorchester, Dorset, Blake developed

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sens ...

after being deprived of blood in the womb. Blake's

father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...

, also called Paul, is an actor, best known for playing the bounty hunter

Greedo Greedo Tetsu Jr. is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. He was a Rodian bounty hunter from the Tetsu Clan and worked for gangster Jabba the Hutt. Greedo's Huttese language is based on Quechua, the Inca language. He appe ...

in '' Star Wars'' (1977), while his mother Kate is a former ballet dancer with the

Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in ...

Career history

Blake competed for Great Britain at the

2011 IPC Athletics World Championships The 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships was held in Christchurch, New Zealand from January 21 to 30, 2011. Athletes with a disability competed, and the Championships was a qualifying event for the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Ove1000 athlet ...

where he won a Gold in 400m and silver in 800m and 1500m. And at the 2012 IPC Athletics European Championships he won two medals (a silver and Bronze) and has been selected for the British team at the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...

doing the 400m and 800m in T36. He also has the World Record in the T36 800m (2:08.02) and 1500m (4:34.42). At the London 2012 Paralympic Games, Blake won silver in the 400m T36, in a personal best time of 54.22, and bronze in the 800m T36. In 2013 Blake represented Great Britain at the IPC Athletics World Championships in Lyon. There he took part in the 400m and 80m T36 events. In the 400m he finished second behind Russia's

Evgenii Shvetcov Evgeny Shvetsov (''born 28 February 1988'') is a Paralympian track and field athlete from Russia competing mainly in category T36 sprint and middle-distance events. A triple gold medal winner at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, Shvetcov set three ...

, but then secured his first major international gold with a win in the 800m. At the

2014 IPC Athletics European Championships The 2014 IPC Athletics European Championships was a track and field competition for athletes with a disability open to International Paralympic Committee (IPC) affiliated countries within Europe, plus Azerbaijan and Israel. It was held in Swan ...

, Blake enjoyed a medal winning championships. He started it off with a bronze medal in the T36 100m behind his teammate,

Graeme Ballard Graeme Robert Ballard (born 16 June 1979) is an English Paralympian athlete with cerebral palsy, who competes mainly in category T36 sprint events. Graeme was born in Manchester. He competed in both the T36 100m and 200m in the 2004 Summer Para ...

. Blake had only started competing over the 100m competitively in 2014 and won a medal in Swansea after his victory over the distance at the Sainsbury's Anniversary Games prior to the championships. Blake followed his 100m success with a silver medal in the 400m in south Wales. At the

2015 IPC Athletics World Championships The 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships were a Paralympic track and field meet organized by the World Para Athletics subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee. The event was the 7th edition of what is now known as the World Para ...

held in Doha, Blake was given the role of co-captain for the Great Britain team along with sprinter

Laura Sugar Laura Sugar (born 7 February 1991) is a British Paralympic athlete who competes in sprint events under the T44 classification. Before taking up athletics Sugar represented Wales at field hockey captaining the under-20s team. She has now switc ...

. He successfully defended his 800m World title with a win over Russian rival Artyom Arefyev. Blake added a silver in the 400m, equaling his achievements from 2013 in Lyon. Blake completed his set of medals with a gold at the

2016 Rio Paralympics ) , nations = 159 , athletes = 4,342 , opening = 7 September , closing = 18 September , opened_by = President Michel Temer , cauldron = Clodoaldo Silva , events = 528 in 22 sports , stadium = Maracanã , su ...

, triumphing in the men's 400m T36. He also took silver in the men's 800m T36. Blake was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

2017 New Year Honours The 2017 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours were awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

for services to athletics. Blake won Gold for 800m at the 2019 Athletics World Championships held in Dubai.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blake, Paul Living people 1990 births Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Paralympic athletes for Great Britain Paralympic gold medalists for Great Britain Paralympic silver medalists for Great Britain Paralympic bronze medalists for Great Britain World record holders in para-athletics Track and field athletes with cerebral palsy Cerebral Palsy category Paralympic competitors Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Members of the Order of the British Empire Team Bath track and field athletes Team Bath Paralympic athletes Medalists at the World Para Athletics European Championships Medalists at the World Para Athletics Championships World Para Athletics Championships winners Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field)