BACKGROUND

2009 celebrated the 25th Anniversary of Tessa Sanderson winning her Olympic Gold Medal. On the 6^th August 1984 at the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles Tessa Sanderson won the Gold in the Womens Javelin and remains today the only British Woman to ever win a throwing Gold Medal.

Tessa competed in SIX Olympic Games, which in itself is a record. Tessa has won many other major medals including three times Commonwealth Gold and the last being a World Cup Gold in Cuba in 1990. In the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and competing in her 5^th Olympics she finished an incredible 4^th place in the final.

In March 2004 New Years Honours list Tessa Sanderson was awarded the CBE by Her Majesty the Queen, in recognition of her services to sport and Vic Chairman of Sport England the leading strategic organisation for sport in England. Prior to the CBE she was the recipient of an OBE in December 1997 for her work with various charities and in 1985 was awarded the MBE for winning her Olympic Gold Medal for Great Britain in Los Angeles. In October 2004 Tessa was awarded the Sunday Times Life Times Achievement Award for her dedication to sport.
 

Tessa holds two Honorary Fellowship Degree one from South Bank University in London in 2004, and prior to this Wolverhampton Polytechnic. She also has an honorary Masters Degree from Birmingham University. 

 

During her 26 years competing for Great Britain Tessa was voted Sports Personality of the Year and Athlete of the Year (3 times) by the Athletics Writers Association. In 1988 Tessa presented the Sports News for 2 ½ years for Sky Television. Her media career involved television presenting for BBC, ITV, Bloomberg, GMTV, where she covered the 1996 Olympics from Atlanta. Other media activities involve working with Talk Sport Radio and other network radio stations in the UK. Tessa was involved with Talksport again during the 2008 Olympic Games.

 

Tessa has taken part in the BBC Show “Strictly African Dancing” and has guest appeared on The Wright Stuff and Alan Titchmarsh Show

 

Having retired from competitive athletics in 1997, Tessa still remains the only female athlete to win an Olympic throwing medal for Great Britain. Tessa continues to work with various Charities such as the Variety Club of Great Britain the largest children’s charity in the world, also for Leukemia and was patron to Jamaica Basic Schools a Charity for Underprivileged children in Jamaica

 

In 2009 Tessa having taken part in many tv and media shows appeared in the ever popular reality show “WIFE SWAP” with Ron Atkinson former football manager.  That particular show on that evening recorded the highest viewing of the whole series with over 2.9 million viewers aand was repeated 9 nine times during the year.

 

Tessa still continues to do a lot of Media work her latest been the ever popular BBC “Celebrity Cash in the Attic” with her partner to raise money fo rone of their chosen charity.    

Olympics 2012

Tessa is currently putting a lot of energy into working with youngsters to find that sought after talent for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympics Games. Still  involved in sport, initially with the the Newham Sports Academy and now with the Tessa Sanderson Sports Foundation & Academy, Tessa is based in the home of the 2012 Olympic Games, Newham, and recently organised the Newham Classic 10K run.

 

Tessa was specially appointed to work with Newham Council in the build up to the 2012 Olympic Games as head of the Newham Sports Academy. The academy was set up to find new talent and train under experiences coaches for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympics Games.

The Newham Sports Academy with Tessa Sanderson made great progress and has some exciting prospects including brother and sister Emmanuel & Maria Okpokiri, Vicki Ohuruogu, younger sister to Olympic Gold Medalist Christine. Rashid Kayoza & Paige Haines are set to compete at Junior international level. Outside of athletics the Fencing team has beaten well known Kensington and Chelsea to win the London Youth Games trophy for the first time in five years in 2007.

In April 2009 Tessa again because of her work in the community made history again by organising the first 10K road run to run through the Olympic Park offering the community and other visitors to Newham the Host Borough of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games a fantastic birds eye view of what will be the new Olympic 2012 athletics stadium.  The Newham Classic 10K was so successful  that this now takes place annually and has led to other active running events for anyone such as the City of London West Ham Park Runs which takes place most Sunday mornings in West Ham Park in the East End of London.    

 

In December 2009 Tessa registered her own Charity sports academy, called the "Tessa Sanderson Foundation & Academy" and in 2011, Tessa departed from the Newham Sports Academy and is currently working with her own foundation in the build up to the 2012 Games. For more details on the charity click here

 

Tessa was also a former Board member of the Olympic Park Legacy Company chaired by Baroness Margaret Ford to oversee and help with the formation of the Olympic Park for the Newham community and people living in the East End of London.