Who is Jerome Blake? Canadian Olympian was into cricket before switching to sprinting
Jerome Blake is no stranger to podium finishes. The pro athlete came more than prepared for Tokyo Olympics 2021. He has had an impressive run in 2021 with a boatload of wins, which he will hopefully convert into something even more concrete in the 400m relay race finals on August 6, Friday at 9:50 am ET.
Joining him as a teammate will be gold medalist Andre De Grasse, and Aaron Brown, and Brendon Rodney. The other teams to make the final are Jamaica, Great Britain, Italy, Ghana, Germany, China, and host Japan.
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Who is Jerome Blake?
Just two years ago the Canadian sprinter expressed how he would love to represent the country on the main stage. "Of course I’d like to run as an individual, but the relays are a great opportunity to get a medal," he had told Harry Jerome.
Born in Jamaica on August 18, 1995, Blake's preferred sport as a high school student was cricket. However, he ended up competing in the long jump, high jump, and 400m hurdles. In 2013, he switched to sprinting, which is strange because athletes take up sports of their choice pretty early in life. Blake got a late but good start.
When he moved to Canada, Kelowna's Okanagan Athletics Club head coach Pat Sima-Ledding took him under her wings. Currently, the athlete lives in Burnaby with his family and trains with the Coquitlam Cheetahs, and is coached by Dennis Mitchell.
Blake and Brown have raced before, albeit against each other. "I love racing against him," Blake said in a recent interview and added: "Me and Aaron are close. Ever since we met, he’s one of those guys who’s always been there for me, giving me tips, always helping me." From the looks of it, there's already healthy team dynamics going on. Here's hoping the camaraderie translates on track.
Blake is coming from a confident season. The World Athletics Continental Tour 2021 proved to be quite successful for him. He won the Boston leg and secured the second spot in Bydgoszcz, Poland.
NBC is the official US broadcaster for the games in the US, but it won't have non-stop coverage. The summer games will also air on NBC Sports and MSNBC, if you have access to Cable TV. For those without one, you can stream the event on Peacock's Tokyo NOW and Tokyo LIVE channels.
