Laura Kate Turner-Alleyne (born 12 August 1982) is a British former sprinter, who represented Great Britain at the

2008 Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nati ...

, in the

4 × 100 m relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

and the

100 m 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

. She competed in four

Athletics World Championships Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

and took five British national championship titles across her career, in 60 m, 100 m and 200 m. She was part of the British 4 × 100 m relay team that finished 4th 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 ...

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

(along with

Montell Douglas Montell Marcelle Douglas (born 24 January 1986) is a British sportswoman. Originally a sprinter and former British record holder for the 100 metres at 11.05 seconds. In 2016, she took up bobsleigh and became part of the Great Britain women's tw ...

Joice Maduaka Amuilka Joy (Joice) Maduaka (born 30 September 1973) is a British track and field athlete, who competes over the 100, 200 and occasionally 400 metres. She holds the record for winning the most medals of any athlete at the British Athletics Cha ...

and

Emily Freeman Emily Kaye Freeman (born 24 November 1980) is a retired British athlete from West Yorkshire, England, personal trainer and co-founder of training and mindset company Totally Runable. Freeman competed both nationally and internationally between 20 ...

). Turner represented Great Britain at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, competing at the 100 m sprint. In her first round heat she placed fourth in a time of 11.65, which was not enough to advance to the second round. At the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, f ...

in Delhi, Turner, competing for England, was involved in the controversial

false start In sports, a false start is a disallowed start, usually due to a movement by a participant before (or in some cases after) being signaled or otherwise permitted by the rules to start. Depending on the sport and the event, a false start can result ...

incident as a result of which the race winner

Sally Pearson Sally Pearson, OAM (née McLellan; born 19 September 1986) is an Australian former athlete. She is the 2011 and 2017 World champion and 2012 Olympic champion in the 100 metres hurdles. She also won a silver medal in the 100 m hurdles at th ...

was later disqualified. Both Turner and Pearson false-started, but initially only Turner was given the red card to exclude her from the race. Turner immediately protested at being singled out, and decided to run the race and appeal afterwards. She finished last, and her appeal was turned down. Pearson was subsequently disqualified and the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

was awarded to Nigeria's

Oludamola Osayomi Oludamola Bolanle ("Damola") Osayomi (born 26 June 1986 in Ilesha, Osun State) is a Nigerian sprinter who specializes in the 100 metres and 200 metres. She is a four-time gold medallist at the African Championships in Athletics and won an Oly ...

. However, she also won a gold medal in Delhi as part of the English team in the relay, alongside Douglas, Katherine Endacott and Abiodun Oyepitan. She finished her competitive career in 2013, becoming a coach. Turner attended

Brunel University London Brunel University London is a Public university, public Research universities, research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It was founded in 1966 and named after the Victorian era, Victorian engineer and pioneer of the I ...

, where she graduated with a BSc in Sports Sciences and an MSc in High Performance Physiology.

References

External links

Official Team GB page for Laura Turner
* Living people 1982 births Athletes from London English athletics coaches British female sprinters English female sprinters Olympic female sprinters Olympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain British Athletics Championships winners Alumni of Brunel University London Medallists at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games {{England-athletics-bio-stub