Donald Sanford (athlete)

{{Infobox sportsperson

| honorific_prefix =

| name = Donald Blair-Sanford

| honorific_suffix =

| image = Donald_Sanford_at_European_Championships_Helsinki_2013-03.jpg

| image_size = 240px

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| native_name = דונלד בלייר-סנפורד

| native_name_lang = he

| birth_name =

| fullname = Donald Eugene Blair-Sanford

| nickname = DBS

| nationality =

| ethnicity =

| citizenship = American–Israeli

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1987|2|5}}

| birth_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.

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| hometown = Ein Shemer, Israel

| education =

| alma_mater = * Morgan State University

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| height = {{height|m=1.96}}{{cite web|url=http://www.baku2015.com/athletes/athlete=blair-sanford-donald-1005421/index.html?intcmp=athletes-hub|title=Baku 2015 1St European Games - Athletes - BLAIR SANFORD Donald|work=Baku 2015|access-date=April 8, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923191719/http://www.baku2015.com/athletes/athlete=blair-sanford-donald-1005421/index.html?intcmp=athletes-hub|archive-date=September 23, 2015|url-status=usurped}}

| weight = {{cvt|80|kg}}

| spouse = Danielle Dekel

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| country = {{ISR}}

| sport = Athletics

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| event = 400m

| collegeteam =

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| club = Maccabi Tel Aviv

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| coach = Lloyd Cowan

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| pb = 400m; 45.04 seconds|

| medaltemplates = {{MedalCountry |{{flagicon|ISR}} Israel}}

| show-medals = yes

| updated = October 10, 2015

}}

Donald Eugene Blair-Sanford ({{langx|he|דונלד יוג'ין בלייר-סנפורד}}; born February 5, 1987) is an American-Israeli Olympic sprinter, who specialises in the 400 metre dash.

His personal record at 400 metres is 45.04 seconds. He represented Israel in the 2012 Summer Olympics. He won the bronze medal in 400 metres at the 2014 European Athletics Championships, with a new Israeli record of 45.27 seconds. Competing for Israel at the 2015 European Games, Sanford won with a time of 45.75.

Early life

Sanford was born, one of four children, in Inglewood in Los Angeles County, California, to Donald E. Sanford Jr. and Debra Blair, who had run track in high school.{{cite web|url=http://www.haaretz.com/life/sports/olympics-profile-proud-to-run-for-his-adopted-country-1.449800|title=Olympics/ Profile/ Proud to run for his adopted country|date=July 9, 2012|work=Haaretz|author=Tal Ben Ezra}}{{Cite web|url=https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2016/08/07/former-asu-track-star-races-for-team-israel/|title = Former ASU runner Blair-Sanford races for Team Israel | Cronkite News|date = August 7, 2016}} He attended City Honors High School in Inglewood but competed for Morningside High School.{{cite web|url=http://www.flotrack.org/speaker/7757-Donald-Sanford|title=Donald Sanford|work=Flotrack|access-date=September 15, 2014|archive-date=February 17, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150217224942/http://www.flotrack.org/speaker/7757-Donald-Sanford|url-status=dead}} He won the 400m dash at the California Interscholastic Federation Division III Championships, and was a member of the National Honor Society.{{cite web|url=http://www.thesundevils.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=30300&ATCLID=208247652|title=Donald Sanford Profile – Arizona State University Official Athletic Site|work=TheSunDevils.com}}

He competed for one season at Morgan State University, running a season-best time of 46.92 to place second at the IC4A Championships.

File:DonaldSanford DSC2961 799 1200.jpg

He became an Israeli citizen after marrying Israeli basketball player Danielle Dekel, whom he met when they were both students at Central Arizona College where she was playing basketball for the school.{{cite web |url=http://www.jpost.com/Sports/Introducing-Israels-Olympians-Donald-Sanford |title=Introducing Israel's Olympians: Donald Sanford |last1=Sinai |first1=Allon |date=July 12, 2012 |website=The Jerusalem Post |access-date=August 15, 2014}} He earned an associate degree at Central Arizona in 2007, where he ran on two NJCAA Outdoor Championship teams (in 2006 and 2007).

He also studied at Arizona State University, which he represented in athletic competitions within the United States, and set his 400m personal record of 45.21 seconds. He was the 2010 NCAA runner-up at 400 meters and was part of the 4×400-meter indoor and outdoor relays that season, and was named an All-American.{{cite web|url=https://asunews.asu.edu/20120720_sanford|title=Donald Sanford (track and field – Israel)|work=ASU News|date=July 20, 2012}}

Achievements

Sanford's club is Maccabi Tel Aviv, and he is coached by Lloyd Cowan.

In 2012, Sanford represented Israel for the first time at a major sporting event, finishing 4th at the European Athletic Championships, held in Helsinki, nine-hundredths of a second away from a medal at 45.91 seconds.{{cite web|url=http://www.jpost.com/Sports/Introducing-Israels-Olympians-Donald-Sanford|title=Introducing Israel's Olympians: Donald Sanford|work=The Jerusalem Post|author=Allon Sinai|date=July 12, 2012}}

A little over a month later, he ran in the 2012 Summer Olympics. His shoes were stolen from his bag just ahead of his qualifying heat, and he had to run in a teammate's shoes.{{cite web|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-runner-fails-to-qualify-for-semis-in-400m/|title=Israeli runner fails to qualify for semis in 400m after shoes stolen|work=The Times of Israel|author=Yoel Goldman|date=August 4, 2012}}David Segal (August 4, 2012). [https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/05/sports/olympics/before-track-sprints-breakfast-fit-for-olympians.html "Before Sprints at Olympic Track, Sitting Down at the Table"], The New York Times He finished fifth in a time of 45.71 seconds, in a race won by double-amputee South African Oscar Pistorius, and did not make it out of the qualifying rounds.{{cite news|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4264225,00.html|title=Olympics: Israeli sprinter blames loss on stolen shoes|work=ynet|author=Oren Aharoni|date=August 4, 2012}}{{cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/sa/donald-sanford-1.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418085551/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/sa/donald-sanford-1.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2020-04-18|title=Donald Sanford|work=Olympics at Sports-Reference.com}} He was ranked 26th, two places and one-tenth of a second behind the runners who qualified for the semifinals.{{cite web|url=http://www.haaretz.com/business/stolen-shoes-cause-a-nightmare-for-israeli-sprinter-at-london-2012-1.455941|title=Stolen shoes cause a nightmare for Israeli sprinter at London 2012|work=Haaretz|author=Shaul Adar|date=August 5, 2012}}

At the 2013 Maccabiah Games, Sanford broke the Israeli record and won the gold medal in the 400 meter race with a time of 45.65, defeating Australian Olympic finalist Steven Solomon.{{Cite web|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/maccabiah-athletes-reach-their-moment-of-truth/|title = Maccabiah athletes reach their moment of truth|website = The Times of Israel}}

In 2014, Sanford won the bronze medal in the 400 metres sprint at the European Athletic Championships held in Zurich on August 15, 2014, with a new Israeli record of 45.27 seconds.{{cite web|url=http://www.thejc.com/sport/sport-news/121502/sanford-dedicates-euro-medal-idf|title=Sanford dedicates Euro medal to IDF|work=The Jewish Chronicle|date=August 15, 2014}} He dedicated his medal to the Israel Defense Forces. He was the second Israeli to win a medal at the European Athletic Championships, after Alex Averbukh won gold medals in the pole vault in 2002 and 2006.{{cite web|url=http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Sports/Sanford-makes-history-as-first-Israeli-sprinter-to-win-medal-at-European-Championship-371287|title=Sanford makes history as first Israeli sprinter to win medal at European Championship|work=The Jerusalem Post|author=Allon Sinai|date=August 15, 2014}}

In December 2014, he was named Israeli Sportsman of the Year.{{cite web|url=http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Grapevine-The-spice-of-life-in-Israel-386190|title=Grapevine: The spice of life in Israel|work=The Jerusalem Post|author=Green Fay Cashman|date=December 30, 2014}}

In June 2015, competing for Israel at the 2015 European Games, Sanford won the 400 m in 45.75, a European Games record, as Team Israel won a bronze medal.{{cite web|url=http://www.european-athletics.org/competitions/european-athletics-team-championships-third-league/news/article=slovakia-take-gold-baku/|title=European Athletics|date=June 23, 2015|work=european-athletics}}{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20150624121805/http://www.baku2015.com/en_externalmodules/AT/pdf/ATM004100_C73B_110.pdf "Results"]}}, Baku 2015

Sanford competed for Israel at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He ran the 400m and finished in 5th place in his heat in a time of 46.06, 10 split-seconds behind the semi-final qualifying time, and placed 33rd overall.{{Cite web|url=http://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/sanford-fails-to-reach-400m-semi-final/|title=Sanford fails to reach 400m semi-final}}

Personal life

Sanford and his wife, Israeli native Danielle Dekel-Sanford, married in 2008, and live in Kibbutz Ein Shemer about an hour north of Tel Aviv with their children, Amerie Ann and Rylee. His wife's father, Ehud Dekel, was the first Israeli to compete in four different sports in Israel’s highest sports league, the First League. His older sister, Donnisha "CoCoa" Sanford was a member of the 2004 Pac-10 regular-season championship team for the University of Arizona women's basketball team. She also played professional basketball overseas from 2009-2012.

Personal bests

class="wikitable"
Distance ! Time ! Place ! Date
400m \| 45.21 sec \| Eugene, Oregon \| June 13, 2010
400m \| 45.27 sec \| Zürich, Switzerland \| August 15, 2014
400m \| 45.04 sec \| Meteor Stadium, Zhukovsky \| July 19, 2015

class="wikitable"

Distance

! Time

! Place

! Date

400m

| 45.21 sec

| Eugene, Oregon

| June 13, 2010

400m

| 45.27 sec

| Zürich, Switzerland

| August 15, 2014

400m

| 45.04 sec

| Meteor Stadium, Zhukovsky

| July 19, 2015

References

External links

{{World Athletics|name=Donald Blair-Sanford}}
{{Diamond League|name=Donald Blair-Sanford}}
{{TFRRS|2246240|Donald Sanford}}
[http://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/Athlete.aspx?AID=656167 Donald Sanford] at Athletic.net
{{Olympedia|name=Donald Sanford}}
{{Olympics.com profile|name=Donald Sanford}}
{{OCI profile|name=Donald Sanford}}
{{2015 European Games profile|blair-sanford-donald-1005421|Donald Blair Sanford}}

Category:1987 births

Category:Living people

Category:Olympic athletes for Israel

Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics

Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics

Category:Track and field athletes from Los Angeles

Category:American emigrants to Israel

Category:African-American track and field athletes

Category:Central Arizona College alumni

Category:Morgan State University alumni

Category:Arizona State Sun Devils men's track and field athletes

Category:American male sprinters