Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake

Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake
Mitchell-Blake at the 2016 Olympics
Full name	Nethaneel Joseph Mitchell-Blake
nation	United Kingdom
birthday	2nd April 1994 (age 26)
place of birth	Newham, London , United Kingdom
size	185 cm
Career
discipline	sprint
Best performance	9.99 s ( 100 m ) 19.95 s ( 200 m )
status	active
Medal table
World championships 1 × 1 × 0 × European championships 0 × 1 × 0 × Medals Junior European Championship 1 × 0 × 0 ×
World championships gold London 2017 4 × 100 m silver Doha 2019 4 × 100 m  European championships silver Berlin 2018 200 m  Junior European Championships gold Rieti 2013 200 m
last change: October 5th, 2019

Nethaneel Joseph Mitchell-Blake (born April 2, 1994 in Newham, London ) is a British sprinter .

Athletic career

Born in London, his parents Joseph Blake and Audrey Mitchell-Blake moved back to their homeland in Jamaica when Nethaneel was 13 years old. In Great Britain he was one of the strongest sprinters of his year. The Jamaica College in Kingston also recognized his talent and he was able to prevail against the strong competition in Jamaica. His strong performances led him to qualify for the 2011 World Youth Championships in Lille . A possible change of nation was never up for discussion for him. There he reached fifth place in his semifinals.

Then Nethaneel moved to Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge in the US state of Louisiana . The university offered him a sports scholarship and the opportunity to study economics. In 2013 he won the gold medal over 200 meters at the European Junior Championships in Rieti . The preparations for 2014 were slowed down by injuries, so that Mitchell-Blake did not set any new personal bests. On October 20, 2014, he was accused of raping a woman in his apartment. The accusations did not materialize, but Mitchell-Blake was suspended from the LSU track and field team for nine months and after his acquittal in the summer of 2015, the season was almost over.

It wasn't until 2016 that he was able to return to his form from 2013 and set new personal bests. At the 2016 NCAA Indoor Championships, he finished second over 200 meters. His 10.09 seconds over 100 meters in April was British season best. His international breakthrough came in May 2016 when he was only the second Brit after John Regis to run over 200 meters under 20 seconds with 19.95 s. He was also able to qualify for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, but was eliminated there over 200 meters in the semifinals.

In May 2017 he improved his personal best over 100 meters to 9.99 s. After Adam Gemili he is the second Briton who stayed over 200 meters under 20 seconds and over 100 meters under 10 seconds. His greatest success came at the World Championships in London , when he won the gold medal as an outsider with the British team over 4 x 100 meters .

Personal bests

• 100 m : 9.99 s, May 13, 2017, Columbia
  • 60 m (indoor): 6.65 s, February 19, 2016, Baton Rouge
• 200 m : 19.95 s, May 14, 2016, Tuscaloosa
  • Hall: 20.49s, February 11, 2017, Fayetteville

Web links

Commons : Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Nethanel Mitchell-Blake in the database of World Athletics (English)
• Nethanel Mitchell-Blake in the database of TOPS in athletics (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ LSU profile
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Bloom, Ben (May 19, 2016). Rio Olympics 2016: Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake - from unknown student to Great Britain's new sprint hope . Daily Telegraph . May 30, 2016
3. ↑ May 16, 2016. Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake: Louisiana student close to British 200 m record . BBC . May 30, 2016