Donna Karen Fraser (born 7 November 1972) in

Thornton Heath Thornton Heath is a district of Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon. It is around north of the town of Croydon, and south of Charing Cross. Prior to the creation of Greater London in 1965, Thornton Heath was in the Co ...

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

is an English former

athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

, who mainly competed in the

200 __NOTOC__ Year 200 ( CC) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Victorinus (or, less frequently, year 953 '' Ab ur ...

and 400 m.

Career

An exceptional junior, Fraser won six English Schools 200 m titles (as well as a

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

for the 4 × 100 m at the 1990 World Junior Championships) 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). 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 The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug language, Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport ...

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 Catherine Astrid Salome Freeman (born 16 February 1973) is an Aboriginal Australian former sprinter, who specialised in the 400 metres event. Her personal best of 48.63 seconds currently ranks her as the ninth-fastest woman of all time, set ...

for that season. An individual finalist in 1998 at the

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

and

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

(where she took a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

), 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 BBC London is the BBC English Region producing local radio, television, teletext and online services in London and parts of the surrounding area. Its output includes the daily ''BBC London News'' and weekly '' Sunday Politics'' on television, ...

''Athlete of the Year Award'' for 2005. But her career after 2000 stalled due to a catalogue of injuries (including a torn

achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus (h ...

). At the

2007 World Championships in Athletics The 11th World Championships in Athletics, () under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007. 200 of the IAAF's 212 member federat ...

, 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 EDF Energy is a British integrated energy company, wholly owned by the French state-owned EDF (Électricité de France), with operations spanning electricity generation and the sale of natural gas and electricity to homes and businesses through ...

. Her final major race was the 400 m at the British Grand Prix at

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

, where she finished 7th with a time of 54.11 seconds. However, she has continued to race for the Croydon Harriers, an athletics club based at the Croydon Sports Arena. Fraser was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) in the 2021 New Year Honours for services to equality, inclusion and diversity in the workplace. Fraser currently works at the

Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...

Organising Committee as Head of Inclusion and Engagement. In 2022, she was named

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

' Woman of the Year.

Major achievements

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

References

External links

*
Donna Fraser, Olympics UK
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Donna 1972 births Living people People from Croydon English female 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 Black British sportswomen World Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Championships medalists Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Officers of the Order of the British Empire Olympic female sprinters Medallists at the 1998 Commonwealth Games