- Donna Fraser
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Medal record Competitor for 
United KingdomWomen's athletics World Championships Bronze 2005 Helsinki 4x400 m relay Bronze 2007 Osaka 4x400 m relay Commonwealth Games Bronze 1998 Kuala Lumpur 400 m Bronze 1998 Kuala Lumpur 4x100 m relay European Championships Bronze 1998 Budapest 4x400 m relay European Indoor Championships Bronze 2005 Madrid 4x400 m relay Silver 2009 Torino 4x400 m relay World Junior Championships Silver 1990 Plovdiv 4x100 m relay European Junior Championships Gold 1991 Thessaloniki 400 m Silver 1991 Thessaloniki 4x100 m relay Donna Karen Fraser (born 7 November 1972) in Thornton Heath, Croydon is an English athlete who mainly competed in the 200 and 400 metres.
Donna Fraser competing in a UK Womens League match at Birmingham
Contents
Career
An exceptional junior, she won six English Schools 200m titles (as well as a silver medal for the 4x100m at the 1990 World Junior Championships[1][2]) before turning to the 400m in 1991 and becoming European Junior Champion at the distance the same year (also gaining a silver medal for the 4x100m).[1][2] However, she didn't improve until 1996, when she began to concentrate on the 400m 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 4th 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.
A finalist in 1998 at the European Championships and Commonwealth Games (where she took a bronze medal), she has also played an integral part of Britain's 4x400 relay team, taking medals at the World Championships in 2005, European Championships and Commowealth Games. 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 4x400m relay squad. Despite not running in the final, she received a bronze medal, as she competed in the heats on the 2nd 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 400m 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]
Major achievements
Year Tournament Venue Result Event 1990 World Junior Championships Plovdiv, Bulgaria 2nd 4x100 metres 1991 European Junior Championships Thessaloniki, Greece 1st 400 metres 2nd 4x100 metres 1998 Commonwealth Games Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 3rd 400 metres 3rd 4x100 metres European Championships Budapest, Hungary 3rd 4x400m relay 2000 Olympics Sydney, Australia 4th 400 m 2005 European Indoor Championships Madrid, Spain 3rd 4x400m relay World Championships Helsinki, Finland 3rd 4x400m relay 2007 World Championships Osaka, Japan 3rd 4x400m relay 2009 European Indoor Championships Turin, Italy 2nd 4x400m relay Preceded by
Katharine MerryBritish Champion in 400m
2000Succeeded by
Lesley OwusuPreceded by
Christine OhuruoguBritish Champion in 400m
2005Succeeded by
Nicola SandersReferences
- ^ a b c d e Moody, Fraser (2 September 2009). "Farewell to fab Fraser". The Croydon Guardian (Printed edition) (Newsquest Media Group): pp. 93.
- ^ a b c d e Moody, Graham (2 September 2009). "Croydon Harrier Fraser looks back on career". Croydon Guardian (Newsquest Media Group). http://www.croydonguardian.co.uk/search/4576658.Fraser_looks_back_on_career/. Retrieved 4 September 2009.
- ^ Donna Fraser - BBC LONDON Athlete of the Year 2005 BBC, accessed 7 November 2007
- ^ http://www.croydonharriers.com/News/305/Fraser-returns-to-lift-senior-Harriers.htm : Retrieved 11 July 2011.
External links
- IAAF profile for Donna Fraser
- Donna Fraser, Olympics UK
Categories:- 1972 births
- Living people
- People from Croydon
- English sprinters
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics
- Olympic athletes of Great Britain
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1998 Commonwealth Games
- Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England
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