Julia Bleasdale was born on 9 September 1981 and is a British-born long-distance runner, currently representing Germany internationally, who competes in the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres.
10 Facts About Julia Bleasdale
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Julia Bleasdale represented Great Britain at both distances in the London Olympics, placing eighth in both finals with a personal best time of 30:55.63 in the longer distance.
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Julia Bleasdale competed for Great Britain in cross country running and won the team gold at the 2011 European Cross Country Championships.
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Julia Bleasdale placed fourth at the Cursa Bombers in Spain in 2005 but competed infrequently in the following three years.
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Julia Bleasdale returned to the sport in 2009 and came 15th at the Great Manchester Run.
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Julia Bleasdale won the 5000 metres trials for the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, but was not selected as she had not achieved the qualifying time.
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Julia Bleasdale returned to international action at the 2011 European Cross Country Championships, where her eleventh-place finish brought her the team gold alongside Gemma Steel and Freya Murray.
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Julia Bleasdale ended the year with races on the IAAF Diamond League circuit and made a 10-mile debut at the Great South Run, finishing the distance in 55:35 minutes.
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Julia Bleasdale started the 2014 season in good form, winning the Carlsbad 5000 road race in a time of 15:06 minutes, but injury would prevent her from competing in either the Commonwealth Games or European Championships that year.
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In March 2016, Julia Bleasdale announced that she had changed her international allegiance and would represent Germany in future.