Blake Leeper

Patrick "Blake" Leeper

Leeper (left) at the 2012 Paralympics Men's 400m T44 victory ceremony.
Personal information
Born	August 31, 1989 (1989-08-31) (age 27) [1]
Residence	Chula Vista, California, USA[1]
Website	http://blakeleeper.us/
Medal record Track and field (athletics) Representing  United States Paralympic Games 2012 London 400m - T43 2012 London 200m - T43 IPC World Championships 2013 Lyon 4x100m T42-46 2011 Christchurch 4x100m T42-46 2013 Lyon 100m - T43 2013 Lyon 200m - T43 2013 Lyon 400m - T43

Patrick "Blake" Leeper (born August 31, 1989) is a United States Paralympic athlete, eight-time Paralympic Track and Field international medalist, world record holder and three-time American record holder. ^[2]

Leeper started his medal run in 2011 at the Parapan American Games where he took silver in the 100-meter dash. He went on to compete in the 2012 Paralympic Games in London, where he picked up two more medals, a bronze in the 200-meter dash and silver in the 400-meter dash, losing to South African Oscar Pistorius, whose world record of 45.39 seconds is the one Leeper is chasing. In 2013, Leeper also took four medals at the Paralympic World Championships in Lyon, France, where he ran as part of the world record-setting 4x100-meter relay gold medal team. At the same event he took the silver medal in the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash and 400-meter dash. Leeper's medal collection includes one gold, six silver and one bronze. Over his career, he hopes to win more medals than any Paralympic athlete in track and field. In addition to the medals he has already won, Leeper holds one 2013 Paralympic world record in the 4x100m relay and three American records in the 100-meter dash (10.91), the 200-meter dash (21.7) and the 400-meter dash (48.3). Leeper's world record for his part in the 4x100-meter relay still stands today. He is serving a one-year ban through June 2016 because he tested positive for cocaine. Leeper received official notification from the United States Olympic Committee's Paralympic Track and Field High Performance Director confirming his spot in the U.S. Paralympic Team Trials that commence June 30th in Charlotte, North Carolina. The notification also recognized a one-year suspension agreement that Leeper and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) had previously entered into. With the receipt of the official notification, Leeper steps closer to his quest to break the 400-meter Paralympic world record set by Oscar Pistorius. ^[3]

Patrick Blake Leeper completed a one year suspension and set a new American record in the double-amputee (T43) 200-metre race with a time of 21.49 seconds at McMaster University Summer Twilight track series in Ontario Canada, June 21, 2016. He also set an American record in the 400-metre race with a time of 46.54 seconds. ^[4]

Patrick “Blake” Leeper was chosen by the US Paralympics to represent Team USA in Rio 2016. At the Paralympic trials, he set a new American record in the 200m with a time of 21.5 and a new America’s record in the 400m at 46.1. He took silver in the 100m despite losing a prosthetic leg crossing the finish line live on NBC. ^[5]

Biography

Blake Leeper was born in Kingsport, Tennessee with both legs missing below the knee, and has worn prosthetics since nine months of age. In his childhood, Blake participated in various sports, baseball, basketball etc. with his dad coaching. Blake credits his outstanding positive attitude to his family. He studies medicine at the University of Tennessee.

Leeper made his international debut in 2009 at Rio de Janeiro. In 2011 he won a silver medal in the World Championships 4 × 100 m Relay T42-46 classification with a time of 42.84. In the 2012 Paralympic Games, he won an individual silver medal in the 400 meter T44 event and a bronze medal in the 200m T44 event with a time of 22.46.^[6]

On Feb. 1, 2016, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency announced that Leeper tested positive for benzoylecgonine from a sample collected on June 21, 2015 at the U.S. Paralympic Track & Field National Championships held in St. Paul, Minn. Benzoylecgonine is a metabolite of cocaine, a substance in the class of Stimulants prohibited under the USADA Protocol for Olympic and Paralympic Movement Testing and the International Paralympic Committee Anti-Doping Code, both of which have adopted the World Anti-Doping Code (“Code”) and the World Anti-Doping Agency Prohibited List. It was determined that Leeper’s use of cocaine was not intended to enhance performance, and in consideration of other mitigating factors, he was deemed eligible for a reduced, one-year sanction.

Blake Leeper's personal management is currently under the supervision of businessman, philanthropist Robert Lorsch and Hannah Noval, sponsored by the Victorino Noval Foundation and Nike. ^[7]

See also

• The Mechanics of Running Blades

References