Donna Fraser

Last updated

Donna Fraser
Donna Fraser.jpg
Donna Fraser competing in a UK Women's League match at Birmingham
Medal record
Representing Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain
Women's athletics
World Championships
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2005 Helsinki 4x400 m relay
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2007 Osaka 4x400 m relay
Commonwealth Games
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1998 Kuala Lumpur 400 m
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1998 Kuala Lumpur 4x100 m relay
European Championships
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1998 Budapest 4x400 m relay
European Indoor Championships
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2009 Torino 4x400 m relay
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2005 Madrid 4x400 m relay
World Junior Championships
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1990 Plovdiv 4x100 m relay
European Junior Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1991 Thessaloniki 400 m
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1991 Thessaloniki 4x100 m relay

Donna Karen Fraser OBE (born 7 November 1972) in Thornton Heath, Croydon is an English former athlete, who mainly competed in the 200 and 400 m.

Contents

Career

An exceptional junior, Fraser won six English Schools 200 m titles (as well as a silver medal for the 4 × 100 m at the 1990 World Junior Championships [1] [2] ) before turning to the 400 m in 1991 and becoming European Junior Champion at the distance the same year (also gaining a silver medal for the 4 × 100 m). [1] [2] However, she didn't improve until 1996, when she began to concentrate on the 400 m seriously and qualified for British teams in the major outdoor championships between 1996 and 1999. However, it was at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 that she finally showed the potential she had had as a junior, when she clipped almost a second off her PB to finish fourth with a personal best time of 49.79 seconds, thanks in no small part to her training alongside Olympic champion Cathy Freeman for that season.

An individual finalist in 1998 at the European Championships and Commonwealth Games (where she took a bronze medal), Fraser has also played an integral part of Britain's 4 x 400 m relay team, taking medals at the 1998 European Championships and Commonwealth Games, and 2005 World Championships. She also won the BBC London Athlete of the Year Award for 2005. [3] But her career after 2000 stalled due to a catalogue of injuries (including a torn achilles tendon [1] [2] ).

At the 2007 World Championships in Athletics, Fraser went as part of the 4 × 400 m relay squad. Despite not running in the final, she received a bronze medal, as she competed in the heats on the second leg.

In September 2009, she announced that she was going to leave athletics to return to working full-time at EDF Energy. Her final major race was the 400 m at the British Grand Prix at Gateshead, where she finished 7th with a time of 54.11 seconds. [1] [2] However, she has continued to race for the Croydon Harriers, an athletics club based at the Croydon Sports Arena. [1] [2] [4]

Fraser was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2021 New Year Honours for services to equality, inclusion and diversity in the workplace. [5]

Fraser currently works at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee as Head of Inclusion and Engagement. In 2022, she was named World Athletics' Woman of the Year. [6]

Major achievements

YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotes
Representing Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain and Flag of England.svg  England
1990 World Junior Championships Plovdiv, Bulgaria13th (sf)200 m 24.19 (wind: +0.5 m/s)
2nd4 × 100 m relay 44.16
1991 European Junior Championships Thessaloniki, Greece1st400 m53.54
2nd4 x 100 m relay44.57
1998 European Championships Budapest, Hungary6th400 m 51.54
3rd4 × 400 m relay 3:25.66
Commonwealth Games Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia3rd400 m 51.01
3rd4 x 100 m relay 3:29.28
2000 Olympics Sydney, Australia4th400 m49.79
2005 European Indoor Championships Madrid, Spain3rd4 × 400 m relay 3:29.81
World Championships Helsinki, Finland3rd4 × 400 m relay 3:24.44
2007 World Championships Osaka, Japan3rd4 × 400 m relay 3:25.45 1
2009 European Indoor Championships Turin, Italy2nd4 × 400 m relay 3:30.42

1Time from the heats; Fraser was replaced in the final.

Preceded by British Champion in 400m
2000
Succeeded by
Preceded by British Champion in 400m
2005
Succeeded by

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Moody, Fraser (2 September 2009). "Farewell to fab Fraser". The Croydon Guardian (Printed edition). p. 93.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Moody, Graham (2 September 2009). "Croydon Harrier Fraser looks back on career". Croydon Guardian . Archived from the original on 25 March 2017. Retrieved 4 September 2009.
  3. Donna Fraser - BBC LONDON Athlete of the Year 2005 BBC, accessed 7 November 2007
  4. "Club News". Archived from the original on 1 October 2011. Retrieved 12 July 2011. : Retrieved 11 July 2011.
  5. "No. 63218". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2020. p. N11.
  6. "Fraser wins Woman of the Year Award". World Athletics . 29 November 2022. Retrieved 29 November 2022.