Blythe Hartley Athlete
Blythe Hartley (born May 2, 1982) is a Canadian Olympic diver. She was born in Edmonton, Alberta and began diving at age 12. She went to the National Sport School in Calgary, Alberta with many other top Canadian athletes. Hartley attended Handsworth Secondary School before going on to attend the University of Southern California where she graduated in 2006 with a degree in communications. Hartley won her first gold medal at the world aquatic championships in the 1 m springboard in Fukuoka, Japan in 2001, and won a bronze at the 2003 World Aquatics Championships in 3 m springboard in Barcelona, Spain. Her best finish at the 2000 Summer Olympics was in 3 m springboard synchro where she finished 5th. She won her first Olympic medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics where she won a bronze with partner Émilie Heymans in the synchronized 10 m platform event. Hartley also won a gold medal at the 2005 World Aquatics Championships in Montreal in the springboard event. The North Vancouver resident concluded her competitive career at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where she placed fourth in the three-metre springboard, edged out for the bronze by Wu Minxia of China. Guo Jingjing of China(who regarded Hartley as "fat Canadian" in a press conference after 2008 Olympic test event in February) successfully defended her Olympic gold medal, while Julia Pakhalina of Russia won the silver. Her brother Wyatt Hartley played football for Queen's University, primarily as a running back. In 2007, Hartley's older brother Dr. Strachan Hartley died from cancer. The doctor also played football. He played at Handsworth Secondary School in North Vancouver, BC, Canada. He was a very good athlete and there is an annual run held in his name around the Handsworth neighbourhood and some of the football players help out.