Donald Eugene Blair-Sanford (born February 5, 1987) is an

American-Israeli , native_name_lang = , image = , caption = , population = 110,000–150,000 , popplace = New York metropolitan area, Los Angeles metropolitan area, Miami metropolitan area, and other large metropolitan are ...

Olympic sprinter, who specialises in the

400 metre dash The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is o ...

. His personal record at 400 metres is 45.04 seconds. He represented Israel in the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...

. He won the

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receiv ...

in 400 metres at the 2014

European Athletics Championships The European Athletics Championships is a biennial (from 2010) athletics event organised by the European Athletics Association and is recognised as the elite continental outdoor athletics championships for Europe. Editions First held, for men ...

, with a new Israeli record of 45.27 seconds. Competing for

Israel at the 2015 European Games Israel competed at the 2015 European Games, in Baku, Azerbaijan from 12 to 28 June 2015. The 2015 European Games represents Israel's largest ever delegation to a sports competition. Prior to the start of the event Israel planned to send 141 athle ...

, Sanford won with a time of 45.75.

Early life

Sanford was born, one of four children, in

Inglewood Inglewood may refer to: Places Australia *Inglewood, Queensland * Shire of Inglewood, Queensland, a former local government area *Inglewood, South Australia *Inglewood, Victoria *Inglewood, Western Australia Canada * Inglewood, Ontario *Inglewoo ...

in Los Angeles County,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, to Donald E. Sanford Jr. and Debra Blair, who had run track in high school. He attended

City Honors High School City Honors High School (CHHS) also known as City Honors International Preparatory School, is a charter high school in the Inglewood Unified School District Inglewood Unified School District abbreviated (IUSD) is a public school system distr ...

in Inglewood but competed for Morningside High School. He won the 400m dash at the

California Interscholastic Federation The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) is the governing body for high school sports in the U.S. state of California. CIF membership includes both public and private high schools. Unlike most other state organizations, it does not have a ...

Division III Championships, and was a member of the National Honor Society. He competed for one season at

Morgan State University Morgan State University (Morgan State or MSU) is a public historically black research university in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the largest of Maryland's historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). In 1867, the university, then known a ...

, running a season-best time of 46.92 to place second at the

IC4A IC4A Championships (Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America) is an annual men's competition held at different colleges every year. Association was established in 1875, the competition (started in 1876) served as the top level col ...

Championships. DonaldSanford DSC2961 799 1200

He became an

Israeli citizen Israeli citizenship law details the conditions by which a person holds citizenship of Israel. The two primary pieces of legislation governing these requirements are the 1950 Law of Return and 1952 Citizenship Law. Every Jew in the world h ...

after marrying Israeli basketball player Danielle Dekel, whom he met when they were both students at

Central Arizona College Central Arizona College (CAC) is a public community college near Coolidge, Arizona. CAC serves the population of Pinal County. History and campus Since 1969, Central Arizona College has been serving and educating the communities of Pinal Co ...

where she was playing basketball for the school. He earned an associate degree at Central Arizona in 2007, where he ran on two

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is the governing association of community college, state college and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions ...

Outdoor Championship teams (in 2006 and 2007). He also studied at

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

, 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.

Achievements

Sanford's club is

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...

, and he is coached by

Lloyd Cowan Lloyd Cowan (8 July 1962 – 11 January 2021) was a British track and field athlete. Cowan specialised in the 110 and 400 metres hurdles, but was better known as a coach. On 11 January 2021, it was announced that Cowan had died at the age of 58 ...

. In 2012, Sanford represented Israel for the first time at a major sporting event, finishing 4th at the European Athletic Championships, held in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

, nine-hundredths of a second away from a medal at 45.91 seconds. A little over a month later, he ran in the

. His shoes were stolen from his bag just ahead of his qualifying heat, and he had to run in a teammate's shoes. He finished fifth in a time of 45.71 seconds, in a race won by double-amputee South African

Oscar Pistorius Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius (; ; born 22 November 1986) is a South African convicted murderer and former professional sprinter. Both of his feet were amputated when he was 11 months old owing to a congenital defect; he was born missing the ...

, and did not make it out of the qualifying rounds. He was ranked 26th, two places and one-tenth of a second behind the runners who qualified for the semifinals. At the

2013 Maccabiah Games The 19th Maccabiah ( he, המכביה התשע-עשרה) were held during July 18 to 30, 2013. The Games brought together 7,500 competing athletes, making it the third-largest international sporting event in the world after the Olympic Games and ...

, 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 Steven Solomon (born 16 May 1993) is an Australian Olympic sprinter. He is a six-time defending Australian 400 metres champion. In 2011, he broke the 30-year-old national junior record in the 400m. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London at t ...

. In 2014, Sanford won the

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. He dedicated his medal to the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

. He was the second Israeli to win a medal at the European Athletic Championships, after Alex Averbukh won gold medals in the

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the M ...

in 2002 and 2006. In December 2014, he was named Israeli Sportsman of the Year. In June 2015, competing for

, Sanford won the 400 m in 45.75, a

European Games The European Games is a continental multi-sport event in the Olympic tradition contested by athletes from European nations and several transcontinental countries. The Games were envisioned and are governed by the European Olympic Committees ...

record, as Team Israel won a bronze medal. Sanford competed for

Israel at the 2016 Summer Olympics Israel competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. It was the nation's sixteenth appearance at the Summer Olympics. The Olympic Committee of Israel confirmed a team of 47 athletes, 22 men and 25 wom ...

. 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.

Personal life

Sanford and his wife, Israeli native Danielle Dekel-Sanford, married in 2008, and live in Kibbutz

Ein Shemer Ein Shemer is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located in the Shomron region to the south of Route 65, about 6 km northeast of Hadera, it falls under the jurisdiction of Menashe Regional Council. In , it had a population of . Etymology Ein � ...

about an hour north of

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

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

References

External links