Douglas "Doug" Turner (born 2 December 1966) is a British former track and field

sprint Sprint may refer to: Aerospace *Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design *Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile Automotive and motorcycle *Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989 *Chevrolet Sprint, ...

er who competed mainly in the

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

. He was the silver medallist at the

1998 European Athletics Championships The 17th European Athletics Championships were held from 18 August to 23 August 1998 in Budapest, the capital city of Hungary. Men's results Track 1990 , 1994 , 1998 , 2002 , 2006 , Field 1990 , 1994 , 1998 , 2002 , 2006 , Women's resul ...

. His personal best for the 200 m was 20.43 seconds, set in 1996. He also represented Great Britain at the

1999 World Championships in Athletics The 7th World Championships in Athletics, a World Athletic Championships event held under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Estadio Olímpico, Seville, Spain, between the August 20 and Augu ...

and Wales at the Commonwealth Games in 1998 and 2002.

Career

Born in

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay Europe Ireland *Newport, County Mayo, a town on the ...

, Wales,Turner hangs up spikes
BBC Sport (22 October 2002). Retrieved 2 January 2016. he was a late starter and made his debut at a major outdoor international competition in his thirties. He ran in the heats only at the

1996 European Athletics Indoor Championships The 1996 European Athletics Indoor Championships were held at the Globe Arena, Stockholm, the capital city of Sweden from Friday, 8 March to Sunday, 10 March 1996.1997 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 6th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris, France from March 7 to March 9, 1997. It was the first athletic championships to introduce women's pole vault. There were a total numb ...

.Douglas Turner
IAAF. Retrieved 2 January 2016. He came to prominence during a period of strong sprint competition in Wales, with

Christian Malcolm Christian Sean Malcolm (born 3 June 1979) is a retired Welsh track and field athlete who specialised in the 200 metres. In 2020 he was appointed Head Coach of the British Athletics Olympic Programme. Early life Malcolm was born and was brought ...

, Jamie Baulch and Tim Benjamin among his contemporaries. Both he and Malcolm were members of Cardiff Amateur Athletic Club and worked with coach Jock Anderson. At the national level, Turner won the 200 m Welsh title on three occasions, having back-to-back wins in 1995 and 1996 before taking his final title in 2001. His winning time of 20.54 seconds in 2001 was a record for the meet.Welsh Championships
GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2 January 2016. He was also twice a 200 m winner at the AAA Indoor Championships, topping the podium in 1996 and 2002.
GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2 January 2016. He achieved his personal best of 20.43 seconds in 1996. He managed fifth for Great Britain at the

1998 IAAF World Cup 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

, recording a time of 20.51 seconds, but failed to get past the semi-finals at the

1998 Commonwealth Games The 1998 Commonwealth Games ''(Malay: Sukan Komanwel 1998)'', officially known as the XVI Commonwealth Games ''(Malay: Sukan Komanwel ke-16)'', was a multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This edition is marked by several unprecedent ...

. At that competition he was part of the

4 × 100 metres relay The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners must begin in the same stagger as for the individu ...

team and placed fourth in a team of Malcolm, James Henthorn, and Kevin Williams. The 1998 season proved to be the high point of his career. First he placed fifth at the

1998 European Athletics Indoor Championships The 1998 European Athletics Indoor Championships were held from Friday, 27 February to Sunday, 1 March 1998 at the Palace of Luis Puig, Valencia, Spain.Douglas Turner
Track and Field Brinkster. Retrieved 2 January 2016. Following this he won his only major international medal in the 200 m final at the

, taking the silver medal as part of a British medal sweep alongside winner Douglas Walker and Julian Golding.European Championships (Men)
GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2 January 2016. Turner ran at the

, but failed to make the final. His final year of competition came in 2002, when he ran in the 200 m heats at the

2002 European Athletics Indoor Championships The 2002 European Athletics Indoor Championships were held from Friday, 1 March to Sunday, 3 March 2002 in Vienna, the capital city of Austria. This was the last edition to be held in an even year to avoid it occurring in the same year as the outdo ...

and was a semi-finalist at the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002 were held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August, 2002. The 2002 Games were to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coin ...

. Following these performances, and his advancing years, the national sports body Elite Cmyru dropped him from their funding programme, which brought about his retirement from the sport. He received a three-month doping ban after a positive test for ephedrine in 2000. This also brought about an Olympic ban by the British Olympic Association, but an appeal to the body overturned the ban on the basis that only small traces were found in his system and that the consumption of the drug was unintentional.

Personal bests

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

– 10.37 (2001) *

– 20.43 (1996) * 60 metres (indoor) – 6.69 (2002) *200 metres (indoor) – 20.59 (2002)

National titles

*Welsh Athletics Championships **200 m: 1995, 1996, 2001 *AAA Indoor Championships **200 m: 1996, 2002

International competitions

References

External links