Tessa Sanderson

Sanderson has been married to Densign White, a British Olympic judo competitor, since 2010. She had known White since her first appearance in the Olympics. She does not have any children but has expressed interest in adopting.

She had a bitter rivalry with fellow javelin thrower Fatima Whitbread in the 1980s. Sanderson defeated Whitbread in 1984 with her Olympic gold medal win but fell to Whitbread in several competitions. Sanderson does not like to talk about the rivalry.

She is an outspoken supporter of drug awareness and prevention in sports, citing personal experiences during her time competing.

Tessa Sanderson was born Theresa Ione Tessa Sanderson on March 14, 1956 in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica. She was raised by her grandmother in Jamaica before moving to England to join her parents as a young child.

She showed advanced skills in track and throwing events, particularly the javelin, since her teenage years. She competed in several competitions as she grew up in England, setting several junior records.

Sanderson participated in her first ‘Olympic Games’ in Montreal in 1976 after besting the UK javelin a year prior. She was the youngest competitor at those Olympics finals and she came in tenth.

In 1978, she won her first Commonwealth games, leaving her competition behind by over 7 meters. She was the first British woman to win the games in 16 years. She went on to win the games two more times.

In 1984, she was the first British woman to win gold in the javelin event during her appearance at the ‘Olympic Games’ in Los Angeles. She participated in a total of six Olympic games and Los Angeles was her best showing.

During the late 1980s through 1990s, she made appearances on several TV networks, offering commentary and coverage of sports and Olympic news for a variety of outlets.

She retired from professional competition in 1996 and went on to pursue philanthropic endeavors. She created and sponsored a charitable educational program, ‘Tessa Sanderson Foundation and Academy’, that offers sports training for disabled and disadvantaged children

Sanderson won the javelin event in three Commonwealth Games during the period 1978-1990. Her first victory ended a 16-year stretch where no British woman had won top honors in the competition.

She won Olympic gold in the javelin in 1984 which made her the first British black woman to win gold at the Olympics. This led to her induction as a ‘Member of the Order’ of the British Empire later that year.

She captured first place in the javelin throw in the Athletics World Cup in Cuba in 1990.

She was advanced to ‘Officer of the Order of the British Empire’ in 1998 and then to Commander in 2004 for her charity work and contributions to the sport of javelin throwing.

The ‘Athletics Writers Association’ voted her ‘Sports Personality of the Year’ and ‘Athlete of the Year’ three times.