Tessa Sanderson Tessa Sanderson Theresa Ione "Tessa" Sanderson, (born 14 March 1956) is an English former javelin thrower and heptathlete. A six-time Olympian in the javelin (1976–1996), she won the gold medal in 1984 for Great Britain, and in 1996 she became the second track and field athlete, after discus thrower Lia Manoliu, to compete at six Olympics. She is one of only five women in history to have thrown the javelin (old model) over 73 metres. She is the first black British woman to have won an Olympic gold medal. Sanderson was born in St Elizabeth, Jamaica of Ghanaian ancestry. She
Tessa Sanderson London. Sanderson organised and was associated with the Redbridge 10k on 24 July 2011, which was the first ever run in the Borough of Redbridge. In 1984, Sanderson made an appearance on "Bullseye". Starting in the late 80s she starred in a number of fitness videos alongside Derrick Evans. In the 1990s she worked as a sports reporter for Sky News, and appeared alongside Cilla Black as a co-host on ITV's "Surprise Surprise". In 2005, she took part in the one-off special, "Strictly African Dancing", as part of the "Africa Lives" season on the BBC. She was voted into third