| Torita Blake | |
| Headercolor: | green |
| Textcolor: | yellow |
| Nationality: | Australian |
| Birth Date: | 5 July 1995 |
| Birth Place: | Moree, New South Wales |
| Country: | Australia |
| Sport: | Paralympic athletics |
| Club: | University of Queensland |
| Coach: | Wayne Leaver |
Torita Blake (born 5 July 1995) is an Indigenous Australian athlete. She represented Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in athletics and won a bronze medal at the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships.[1] She represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics in athletics.[2]
She competed as Torita Isaac up until 2016.[3]
Blake was born on 5 July 1995 in Moree, New South Wales. She is from Logan, Queensland.[4] She was born with cerebral palsy, is blind in her right eye and has only 10% minimised vision in her left.[5] [4] She has fractured her legs eleven times. She has broken both arms falling off a horse. Blake is an Indigenous woman from the Dunghutti Aboriginal people.
Blake is an ambassador for the Raise the Bar Academy, a program run by Athletics Australia and Melbourne University, for indigenous secondary school students. She said "I've always wanted to inspire and show my heritage off. I'd like to be a mentor to indigenous kids and also kids with disability in sports. I want to represent Australia, but also my community and my culture. If I can show young indigenous kids you can do something, that nothing can stop you, then that's extra special for me."[6]
Isaac first joined an athletics club in 2011,[7] [8] [9] [6] and specialises in sprints.[10] She has been classified as a T13 before being reclassified to T38.[4] [9] She is a former member of Jimboomba Athletics Club.[4]
Isaac competed in the 2012 Sydney Track Classic, 2012 Brisbane Track Classic and the 2012 Adelaide Track Classic.[11] At the 2012 Summer Paralympics, she finished seventh in the 100 m T38, seventh in the 200 m T38 and fourth in the 4 × 100 m Relay T35-38event.[5] [4] [12]
Competing at the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships in Lyon, she finished seventh in both the Women's 100m and 200m T38.[5] At the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha, she won a bronze medal in the Women's 400m T38.[13] At the 2016 Rio Paralympics, her aim was to receive a podium finish although unfortunately missed out placing 4th overall in the 400 m T38 event with a time of 1:04.47[14]
At the 2017 World Para Athletics Championships in London, England, she won a bronze medal in the Women's 400m T38 and finished seventh in the Women's 200m T38.[15] [16]
She is coached by Wayne Leaver in Brisbane.[5] [6]