Torita Blake (Dunghatti) |
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Achievements
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 Credit: Supplied |
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BiographyTorita started competing in school sports when she was 15. At the age of 17, she was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in the 100 metre, 200 metre and 4 x 100m events. Over her career, she holds numerous Australian athletics records, and in 2015 she set a new World Record in the T38 800m. T38 is her classification for competition, which reflects Mild Cerebral Palsy. She is also legally blind (only 10% vision left eye/ right eye totally blind) and has epilepsy. Competing at the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships in Lyon, she finished seventh in both the Women's 100m and 200m T38. At the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha, she won a bronze medal in the Women's 400m T38. 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. 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. She has served as an ambassador for the Raise the Bar Academy, a joint initiative between Athletics Australia and the University of Melbourne that provides summer camps for indigenous high school students. The programme aims to encourage students to attend post-secondary education and pursue a career in the sports industry. She is also an ambassador for the Deadly Choices indigenous health programme, which encourages indigenous school students to make healthy lifestyle choices. She was the 2019 Arafura Games flag bearer in Darwin, NT, Australia. "I had no idea. It just came out of the blue. It's a real privilege, shows support for the Games and it's an honour to be carrying the flag for the Arafura Games. I think I'm the only indigenous Para-athletics athlete competing so it's a huge privilege. I also get to wear my spikes which were designed by Aboriginal artist Darren Dunn." |