On the 6th August 1984 at the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles Tessa Sanderson won the Gold in the Women's Javelin and became the first black woman to win a Gold for Great Britain. She remains today the only British person, man or woman to ever win a throwing Gold Medal, a record that has been maintained for nearly 40 years. Tessa competed in six Olympic Games from 1976 to 1996, and in addition to the Olympic Gold, won three Commonwealth Golds and a World Cup Gold in Cuba in 1990. In total Tessa made 61 appearances at Internationals, and it was her sixth appearance at the Games that she again made history, equalling that of any Olympic woman and becoming the first British woman to achieve such a landmark (and the second British person to do so as well). . Tessa also held the British heptathlon record in 1980/81. 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 her role as Vice Chairman of Sport 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 Degrees, one from South Bank University in London in 2004, and prior to that Wolverhampton Polytechnic. She also has an honorary Masters Degree from Birmingham University. Tessa became the first female to be appointed Vice Chair for Sport England a role she held for 6 years. 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, she also presented the Sports News for 2/3 years for Sky Television. Her media career involved television presenting for BBC, ITV, Bloomberg, GMTV, Talk Sport Radio. Tessa was a Board member of the Olympic Park Legacy Company and continues to be very involved with the local area today. Her charity support is extensive, in addition to her own Foundation her latest work includes being Patron of Adoption UK having adopted two young twins herself. More recently she became an Ambassador for Variety, The Children’s Charity who supported her as a very young athlete. In 2022 Tessa attended Expo in Dubai to represent the UK and promote business. In addition, she was the baton bearer for the Queen’s Baton Relay receiving the baton from HRH Prince
William, when he was Duke of Cambridge. She continued her baton bearer duties in to the summer proudly carrying it for safe keeping to the Tower of London. In July 2022 Tessa was announced as a village mayor for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, close to where she grew up. During the Games she represented the UK as Mayor welcoming athletes from
across the Commonwealth and hosting dignitaries as well as presenting medals. She received a
special award from Australia in recognition of her services to Sport and the Games.
Other accolades received recently include ‘Outstanding Female Contribution to Sport’ from the
London Chamber of Commerce and the Variety Legend’s award. Tessa is a keynote speaker, accomplished motivational presenter and awards host and TV & radio personality across sport, entertainment and media. She is also a business ambassador for carefully selected brands that she is personally committed to. In addition to her speaking, ambassadorial and personal appearances work Tessa is a model signed to an agency with her latest work including the Estée Lauder campaign #BecauseOfMyAge. 2024 is a landmark year for Tessa as she celebrates 40 years since her historic win. With the Olympics returning to Paris she has a busy schedule for the year ahead.