Julia Bleasdale

Julia Bleasdale (born 9 September 1981)[1] is a British-born long-distance runner, currently representing Germany internationally, who competes in the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres. 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.[2][3]

Julia Bleasdale
Bleasdale (right) in the 5000 m final at the 2012 European Athletics Championships
Personal information
Born (1981-09-09) 9 September 1981
Sport
Country Germany
SportAthletics
Event(s)5000 metres, 10,000 metres

She also competed for Great Britain in cross country running and won the team gold at the 2011 European Cross Country Championships. She placed fourth in the 5000 m at the 2012 European Athletics Championships.

Career

Born in Hillingdon,[4] she competed in middle-distance events in her early years.[5] Bleasdale began studying a degree in engineering at Cambridge University and it was during her time there that she gradually started to focus on longer distance races.[6] 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.[5]

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. In 2010, she focused on cross country instead. The move paid of in 2011 as she came fifth at the Inter-Counties Championships and gained selection for the 2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, where she placed 59th overall. She won the 5000 metres trials for the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, but was not selected as she had not achieved the qualifying time. She returned to international action at the 2011 European Cross Country Championships, where her eleventh-place finish brought her the team gold alongside Gemma Steel and Freya Murray.[7]

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 10,000 metres at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational, raising her to fifth on the British all-time lists.[8] She placed third in the 5000 m British Olympic trials and came fourth in the event at the 2012 European Athletics Championships. Having been selected for both long-distance track events at the 2012 London Olympics, 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.[4] She ended the year with races on the IAAF Diamond League circuit and made a 10-mile debut at the Great South Run, finishing the distance in 55:35 minutes.[5]

In April 2013 she came third at the Great Ireland Run, completing a British sweep behind Lauren Howarth and Gemma Steel.[9]

Bleasdale started the 2014 season in good form, winning the Carlsbad 5000 road race in a time of 15:06 minutes, but injury would prevent her from competing in either the Commonwealth Games or European Championships that year.[10]

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.[11]

Competition record
YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotes
Representing  United Kingdom
2011 World Cross Country Championships Punta Umbría, Spain 59th Senior race
European Cross Country Championships Velenje, Slovenia 11th Senior race
1st Team race
2012 European Championships Helsinki, Finland 4th 5,000 m 15:12.77
Olympic Games London, England 8th 10,000 m 30:55.63 PB
8th 5,000 m 15:14.55 (Semi-final 15:02 PB)

Personal bests

References
  1. "Profile of Julia Bleasdale". www.all-athletics.com. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  2. "Bleasdale set for double after Olympic selection". www.thisissurrey.co.uk. 5 July 2012. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  3. "Results of London Olympic Games".
  4. Julia Bleasdale Archived 5 April 2013 at the Wayback Machine. London2012. Retrieved on 18 April 2013.
  5. Julia Bleasdale. Power of 10. Retrieved on 18 April 2013.
  6. Julia Bleasdale Archived 21 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Cambridge University. Retrieved on 18 April 2013.
  7. 2011 European XC Championships – Senior Women's Final. European Athletics (2011). Retrieved on 11 December 2011.
  8. Hart, Simon (30 April 2012). London 2012 Olympics: Julia Bleasdale makes Games breakthrough as she goes fifth fastest on all-time UK list. Daily Telegraph. Retrieved on 18 April 2013.
  9. Martin, David (14 April 2013). Bekele retains title, Howarth takes honours in Dublin. IAAF. Retrieved on 18 April 2013.
  10. Whittington, Jessica (31 October 2014). Julia Bleasdale encouraged by marathon performance. Athletics Weekly. Retrieved on 27 June 2015.
  11. Julia Bleasdale confirms her switch in allegiance to Germany. Athletics Weekly. Retrieved on 15 March 2016.
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