Julia Bleasdale (born 9 September 1981) is a British-born

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance ru ...

, currently representing Germany internationally, who competes in the

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a sta ...

and

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship-level events. The ...

. She represented Great Britain at both distances in the London Olympics, placing eighth in both finals with a personal best time of 30:55.63 in the longer distance. She also competed for Great Britain in

cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and soil, earth, pass through woodlands and ope ...

and won the team gold at the

2011 European Cross Country Championships The 2011 European Cross Country Championships was the 18th edition of the cross country running competition for European athletes which was held in Velenje, Slovenia on 11 December. Atelaw Yeshetela of Belgium won the men's title to become the ...

. She won the bronze medal in the 5000 m at the

2012 European Athletics Championships The 2012 European Athletics Championships were held in Helsinki, Finland between 27 June and 1 July 2012. This edition marks the beginning of a new two-year cycle of the European Athletics Championships which were previously held every four years. ...

Career

Born in

Hillingdon Hillingdon is an area of Uxbridge within the London Borough of Hillingdon, centred 14.2 miles (22.8 km) west of Charing Cross. It was an ancient parish in Middlesex that included the market town of Uxbridge. During the 1920s the civil pari ...

,Julia Bleasdale
. London2012. Retrieved on 18 April 2013. she competed in middle-distance events in her early years.Julia Bleasdale
Power of 10. Retrieved on 18 April 2013. Bleasdale began studying a degree in engineering at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

and it was during her time there that she gradually started to focus on longer distance races. In 2004, her final year at Cambridge, she won the British 10 km in London and represented Great Britain for the first time at the Chiba International Ekiden, where she ran a 5K leg of the relay. She placed fourth at the Cursa Bombers in Spain in 2005 but competed infrequently in the following three years. She returned to the sport in 2009 and came 15th at the

Great Manchester Run The Great Manchester Run is an annual run through Greater Manchester (namely Manchester, Trafford and Salford). It has consisted of a 10k run since it was established in 2003, and a half marathon since 2017. The 10k race is the largest of its t ...

. In 2010, she focused on cross country instead. The move paid off in 2011 as she came fifth at the Inter-Counties Championships and gained selection for the

2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 20, 2011. The races were held at the Polideportivo Antonio Gil Hernández in Punta Umbría, Spain. Reports of the event were given for the IAAF. Preparation The Uni ...

, where she placed 59th overall. She won the

trials for the

2011 World Championships in Athletics The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011. The United States topped the medal standings in the ...

, but was not selected as she had not achieved the

qualifying time In many racing sports, an athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial (TT) against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athlete or team set ...

. She returned to international action at the

, where her eleventh-place finish brought her the team gold alongside

Gemma Steel Gemma Steel (born 12 November 1985) is a British long-distance runner who competes in road running and cross country running competitions. She was the 2014 gold medallist at the European Cross Country Championships. She has represented Great Br ...

and

Freya Murray Freya Ross (née Murray, born 20 September 1983) is a Scottish long-distance runner who competed in the Marathon at the London 2012 Olympics. She mainly competed in road races, but was also successful on the track competing in 5000 metres and 10 ...

. The 2012 season saw Bleasdale break through in track events. Having started training with Australian coach Nic Bideau in late 2011, she ran a personal best of 31:29.57 minutes for the

at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational, raising her to fifth on the British all-time lists. She placed third in the 5000 m British Olympic trials and came fourth in the event at the

. Several years later, her result was upgraded to bronze, following disqualifications for doping. Having been selected for both long-distance track events at the

2012 London 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 ran two personal bests of 15:02.00 minutes and 30:55.63 minutes and placed eighth in the finals of both 5000 m and 10,000 m events. She ended the year with races on the

IAAF Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fifteen invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics one-day meet competitions. The inaugural season was ...

circuit and made a 10-mile debut at the

Great South Run The Great South Run is an annual 10 mile (16.09 km) road running race which takes place in Portsmouth, United Kingdom providing an intermediate distance between the ten kilometre and the half marathon (21.097 km) runs. Launched in 199 ...

, finishing the distance in 55:35 minutes. In April 2013 she came third at the

Great Ireland Run The Great Ireland Run is an annual 10-kilometre road running competition which is held in Phoenix Park, Dublin, Ireland in mid-April. It is part of the Great Run series of athletics competitions. It is sponsored by SPAR and features both an el ...

, completing a British sweep behind Lauren Howarth and Gemma Steel. Bleasdale started the 2014 season in good form, winning the

Carlsbad 5000 The Carlsbad 5000 is an annual 5K run, five kilometer (3.1 mile) road running event that takes place each spring in the city of Carlsbad, California, along the north coast of San Diego County, California, San Diego County. Organization The event i ...

road race in a time of 15:06 minutes, but injury would prevent her from competing in either the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

that year. In March 2016, Bleasdale announced that she had changed her international allegiance and would represent Germany in future. She has held dual British-German nationality since birth.Julia Bleasdale confirms her switch in allegiance to Germany

Athletics Weekly ''AW'' (formerly ''Athletics Weekly'') is a monthly track and field magazine published in the United Kingdom by Athletics Weekly Limited. The magazine covers news, results, fixtures, coaching and product advice for all aspects of track and field ...

. Retrieved on 15 March 2016.

Competition record

Personal bests

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000 m sho ...

– 8:46.38 min (2012) *

– 15:02.00 min (2012) *

– 30:55.63 min (2012) *

10K run The 10K run is a long-distance road running competition over a distance of . Also referred to as the 10K road race, 10 km, or simply 10K, it is one of the most common types of road running event, alongside the shorter 5K and longer half ...

– 33:00 min (2005)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bleasdale, Julia 1981 births Living people People from Hillingdon Athletes from the London Borough of Hillingdon German female long-distance runners English female long-distance runners British female long-distance runners British female mountain runners Olympic female long-distance runners Olympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics British Athletics Championships winners Alumni of the University of Cambridge 21st-century English sportswomen 21st-century German sportswomen