Former Arizona State Univeristy track and field quarter-miler Donald Sanford was added to Israel’s Olympic delegation for the 2012 games after the exceptions committee ruled his recent achievements were at an extremely high level.
Sanford was .09 seconds short of a medal at the European Championships in Helsinki, where he placed fourth in the 400-meter dash in 45.91. His result caused the Israeli Olympic committee to add him to the delegation flying to London.
Sanford was the 2010 NCAA runner-up at 400 meters while running for Arizona State. It was at ASU that he met his future wife, an Israeli who was studying overseas, and the two were married in 2008.
Two years later he began his citizenship process, and in 2012 he represented Israel at the European Championship.
Sanford became the first Israeli since Olympic finalist Esther Roth-Shachamorov in 1970 to reach the finals of a major international track and field competition, narrowly missing the bronze medal.
He joins another former Sun Devil in the Israeli Olympic delegation. Swimmer Gal Nevo is representing his native Israel in the Olympics for a second time.
