Linsey Macdonald (born 14 February 1964) is a former Scottish sprinter from

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; sco, Dunfaurlin, gd, Dùn Phàrlain) is a city, parish and former Royal Burgh, in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. The city currently has an estimated population of 58,508. Accord ...

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

, who specialised in the

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor runn ...

. She was nicknamed "The Fife Flyer" during her career. Inspired by competitors like Mary Peters she started in athletics at the age of 10.

Athletics career

In 1978 Macdonald was a successful schoolgirl runner, where she was British School Girl Champion in the

100 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...

m. She moved up to be a successful junior runner winning the AAA indoor 60m championship, she then added the Junior indoor 400m a year later. Her success continued when she won the AAA Junior Championships in the 100m and 400m in 1979, and 100m and 200m in 1980. Also in 1980 she was AAA indoor 200m champion, as well as U.K. Champion in the 400m. Still at 16 years old Macdonald went with the British team to the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, after setting a British Junior 400m record of 51.16 seconds, which still stands. In Moscow she qualified for the Olympic final, finishing 8th in 52.40 seconds. She was a member of the 4x400 metre relay team that won the Olympic bronze medal. In 1981 she won the Scottish and the U.K. 100m and 200m Championships, then won a bronze medal at the European Junior Championships. She represented

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

at the

1982 Commonwealth Games The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Australia, from 30 September to 9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium (named after Elizabeth II), in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the a ...

in Brisbane and won a bronze medal with the 4x400m relay team. However, she was eliminated in the heats of the Athens European Championships in 1982. Coached until the age of 18 by Jimmy Brice, she was subsequently coached by John Anderson but never bettered her time of 51.16s at a 16-year-old. In 1985 she won the Scottish 400m metres championship, and the AAA Indoor 400m title. She was a member of

Pitreavie Amateur Athletic Club Pitreavie Amateur Athletic Club, based in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, was formed in 1956. The club makes use of modern and expansive facilities including its own clubhouse and gym as well as access to an outdoor running track and complete indo ...

, and still holds several club records.http://www.pitreavie-aac.co.uk Pitreavie

Career and personal life

Macdonald has degrees in

chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...

and

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...

from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

and is a general practitioner with a special interest in

sport medicine Sports medicine is a branch of medicine that deals with physical fitness and the treatment and prevention of injuries related to sports and exercise. Although most sports teams have employed team physicians for many years, it is only since the ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. She is married to Christopher Tong, an orthopaedic surgeon and has two sons, Hamish and Fergus.

References

* 1964 births Living people Scottish female sprinters Sportspeople from Dunfermline Olympic athletes for Great Britain Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Scotland Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Scottish Olympic medallists Olympic female sprinters Medallists at the 1982 Commonwealth Games {{Scotland-athletics-bio-stub