Dominique Blake (born 15 February 1987) is a Jamaican track and field athlete. Blake won a gold medal at the

2010 Central American and Caribbean Games The 21st Central American and Caribbean Games (Spanish: ''XXI Juegos Centroamericanos y del Caribe, Mayagüez 2010'') took place in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, from 18 July 2010 to 1 August 2010. Bid It was understood that Mayagüez was going to b ...

and was accidentally awarded a bronze medal at the

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

. She was banned for years after testing positive for

methylhexanamine Methylhexanamine (also known as methylhexamine, 1,3-dimethylamylamine, 1,3-DMAA, dimethylamylamine, and DMAA; trade names Forthane and Geranamine) is an indirect sympathomimetic drug invented and developed by Eli Lilly and Company and marketed ...

and returned to athletic competition in 2017.

Early life and education

Blake was born on 15 February 1987 in

Bronx, New York The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

. She began her career as an

indoor track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete in 2002 before she started to compete in

outdoor track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

events the following year. Blake spent four years as an athlete for

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

starting in 2004 and graduated from Penn State with a communications degree.

Career

NCAA

As an

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

athlete, Blake was 12th in the 4x400 meter relay with Penn State at the

2006 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships The 2006 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships were contested to determine the individual and team national champions of men's and women's NCAA collegiate indoor track and field events in the United States after the 2004–05 season ...

. The following year, Blake and her 4x400 meter relay team was 4th at the 2007 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships. During the 2007 indoor championships, Blake and her three teammates finished in 13th in the distance medley event. At the

2008 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships The 2008 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships was the 43rd NCAA Men's Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships and the 26th NCAA Women's Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships, held at the Randal Tyson Track Center ...

, Blake and her teammates were 5th in the 4x400 meter relay. At individual events for the 2008 NCAA Indoor Championships, Blake did not advance past the 400 meters heats and finished 17th overall.

Other events

At the 2006 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Blake was disqualified after she failed a

drug test A drug test (also often toxicology screen or tox screen) is a technical analysis of a biological specimen, for example urine, hair, blood, breath, sweat, or saliva, oral fluid/saliva—to determine the presence or absence of specified parent ...

for

ephedrine Ephedrine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant and sympathomimetic agent that is often used to prevent hypotension, low blood pressure during anesthesia. It has also been used for asthma, narcolepsy, and obesity but is not the preferred ...

. Following the event, Blake was banned from competitions for nine months. During the 2008 United States Olympic Trials, Blake was 23rd overall in the 400 meters after she did not advance farther than the preliminaries. For Jamaica, Blake participated at the

where she won a gold medal in the 4 x 400 meters relay. At the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 201 ...

, Blake was 12th in the 4 x 400 meters relay with the Jamaican team that did not reach the final. For the

400 meters 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 ...

at that year's Commonwealth Games, Blake got to the semi-finals and finished overall in 18th place. She also was at the

2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics was the 14th edition of the global-level indoor track and field competition and was held between March 9–11, 2012 at the Ataköy Athletics Arena in Istanbul, Turkey. It was the first of fo ...

but did not win a medal. In July 2012, Blake became part of the 4 x 400 meters Olympic team for Jamaica. Although Blake was a part of Jamaica's team that qualified for the

, Blake never actually ran at the London Olympics. Despite not running in the women's 4 × 400 m event, Blake was accidentally awarded an Olympic bronze medal by the

Jamaica Olympic Association Jamaica Olympic Association (IOC code: JAM) is the National Olympic Committee representing Jamaica. It is also the body responsible for Jamaica's representation at the Olympic Games. History The Jamaica Olympic Association was founded in 1936 an ...

. She did not return the medal, however. In 2013, Blake was suspended for six years after she tested positive for

. That year, Blake asked the

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; , TAS) is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland, and its courts are located in New York City, Sy ...

to grant her a shorten ban. After her ban was lowered to years in 2014, Blake came back into competition in January 2017. Later that year, in compliance with

International Association of Athletics Federations World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international governing body for the sport of athletics, coverin ...

rules that mandate the return of all medals and prizes after positive testing for forbidden substances, Blake gave back her Olympic bronze medal to the Jamaica Olympic Association. At the

2018 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 17th IAAF World Indoor Championships was held from 1 to 4 March 2018 in Birmingham, United Kingdom. This was the city's second hosting of the event as it previously did so in 2003 IAAF World Indoor Championships, 2003. Bidding process Birmin ...

, Blake was on the Jamaican team that won their

4 × 400 metres relay The 4 × 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics track and field, track event in which teams consist of four runners who each complete 400 metres or one lap, totaling 1600 meters. It is traditionally the final event of ...

heat and qualified for the final. At the 4 x 400 meters final, Blake was not one of the runners for Jamaica when the team was disqualified after the race. During the 2018 National Relay Championships, Blake was sixth in the 400 meters and did not finish the final of the 800 meters. The following year, Blake was fourth in the 400 meters at the 2019 National Relay Championships.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blake, Dominique 1987 births Jamaican female sprinters Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Jamaica Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games Living people Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in athletics Commonwealth Games athletes for Jamaica 21st-century Jamaican sportswomen NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners Jamaican sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in athletics Penn State Nittany Lions women's track and field athletes