Hubbry Logo
search
logo
1664445

Tasha Danvers

logo
Community Hub0 Subscribers
Write something...
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
See all
Tasha Danvers

Tasha De'Anka Danvers (born 19 September 1977) is a British Olympic bronze medallist, who finished in third place in the 400 metres hurdles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She was born in London to two athletes, Dorrett McKoy and Donald Danvers, who both moved to the United Kingdom from Jamaica as children.

Danvers became the British 400 metres hurdles champion after winning the British AAA Championships title at the 1998 AAA Championships.

In 1999, she represented Great Britain at the 1999 World Championships in Athletics with a time of 56.66 seconds in the heats. This failed to see her qualify through the rounds; however it gave her vital experience, which she took on to the following year at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. At the age of 23, Danvers made the final of her first Olympic games, finishing in 8th place, after going out too hard. The following year, she won the 400 m hurdles at the 2001 Summer Universiade.

After regaining the AAA title at the 2002 AAA Championships she attended her first Commonwealth Games, in Manchester. She finished 7th in the final, behind the winner Jana Pittman of Australia. An athlete she would meet in the future, Melaine Walker of Jamaica, finished in 4th place. That same year, she also finished 7th in the 2002 European Athletics Championships.

In 2003, she married her Coach, Darrell Smith, the nephew of sprint coach John Smith. From 2004, she was styled as Tasha Danvers-Smith. Danvers reverted to her maiden name in 2008; the couple divorced the following year (2009).

Danvers-Smith missed her second Olympics, as she had taken time out for child-birth. This was criticised by many, including the British Olympic Medalist Alan Pascoe, who called her "stupid", as most people thought she would never make a return to competitive athletics. She returned in 2006 to take a silver medal in the Commonwealth Games, behind Pittman, as well as a seventh place in the final of the European Championships. At the end of this year, she reached a career high of 6th in the IAAF rankings.

While competing for the University of Southern California (USC), Danvers won several Pac-10 conference titles and competed in several events including the high jump and the 100 m hurdles. Tasha won the NCAA title in 2000 her second year as captain of the Women of Troy. She holds the USC school record in the 400 hurdles and on the 4 × 400 metres relay while also showing up in the top 10 in the 100 metres hurdles and high jump. After the Sydney Olympics, she returned to Los Angeles to finish her degree in Music Business and joined the famed training group HSI.

In February 2007, Danvers was inducted into the USC Hall of Fame.

See all
User Avatar
No comments yet.