Donna Fraser

Donna Fraser competing in a UK Women's League match at Birmingham
Medal record
Representing  Great Britain
Women's athletics
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place2005 Helsinki4x400 m relay
Bronze medal – third place2007 Osaka4x400 m relay
Commonwealth Games
Bronze medal – third place1998 Kuala Lumpur400 m
Bronze medal – third place1998 Kuala Lumpur4x100 m relay
European Championships
Bronze medal – third place1998 Budapest4x400 m relay
European Indoor Championships
Silver medal – second place2009 Torino4x400 m relay
Bronze medal – third place2005 Madrid4x400 m relay
World Junior Championships
Silver medal – second place1990 Plovdiv4x100 m relay
European Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place1991 Thessaloniki400 m
Silver medal – second place1991 Thessaloniki4x100 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.

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  Great Britain and  England
1990 World Junior Championships Plovdiv, Bulgaria 13th (sf) 200 m 24.19 (wind: +0.5 m/s)
2nd 4 × 100 m relay 44.16
1991 European Junior Championships Thessaloniki, Greece 1st 400 m 53.54
2nd 4 x 100 m relay 44.57
1998 European Championships Budapest, Hungary 6th 400 m 51.54
3rd 4 × 400 m relay 3:25.66
Commonwealth Games Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 3rd 400 m 51.01
3rd 4 x 100 m relay 3:29.28
2000 Olympics Sydney, Australia 4th 400 m 49.79
2005 European Indoor Championships Madrid, Spain 3rd 4 × 400 m relay 3:29.81
World Championships Helsinki, Finland 3rd 4 × 400 m relay 3:24.44
2007 World Championships Osaka, Japan 3rd 4 × 400 m relay 3:25.451
2009 European Indoor Championships Turin, Italy 2nd 4 × 400 m relay 3:30.42

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

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.
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