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 Commander (CBE) in the 2004 New Year's Honours for her services to Sport England. Sanderson is an honorary graduate of the University of Wolverhampton and was made an Honorary Fellow of London South Bank University in 2004. In 2004 Sanderson was awarded a Sunday Times Lifetime Achievement Award. There is a housing estate named after her in her adopted home town of Wednesfield: Sanderson Park. It is located in the vicinity of the playing fields of her former school, Wards Bridge High School. There is also a road named after her in Wandsworth, South London: Tessa Sanderson Place. On 1