Paula Fudge (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Yeoman; born 30 March 1952) is an English former middle and

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires endurance, stamina as well as mental strength. Within e ...

. She won a gold medal in the

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000m shoul ...

at the

1978 Commonwealth Games The 1978 Commonwealth Games were held in Edmonton, Alberta from 3 to 12 August 1978, two years after the 1976 Summer Olympics were held in Montreal, Quebec. They were boycotted by Nigeria, in protest at New Zealand's sporting contacts with apar ...

, and on 13 September 1981 she set the world record for the

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

with 15.14.51, the first recognised women's 5000m world record by the

IAAF 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 ...

. This record remained the British record until 1985 when it was broken by

Zola Budd Zola Budd (also known as Zola Pieterse; born 26 May 1966) is a South African middle-distance and long-distance runner. She competed at the 1984 Olympic Games for Great Britain and the 1992 Olympic Games for South Africa, both times in the 30 ...

. She also won a bronze medal in the 3000 metres at the 1982 European Indoor Championships. Fudge made her

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

debut at the 1985

Columbus Marathon The Nationwide Children's Hospital Columbus Marathon is a marathon held in Columbus, Ohio, United States. First run in 1978 and held annually since 1980, it features a flat, fast course which saw nearly 20 percent of finishers qualify for the B ...

, winning in a time of 2:35:10. She then won a team gold medal at the 1985 World 15km Road Race Championships, and finished fifth individually. She improved her marathon personal best to 2:32:25 at the 1986

London Marathon The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, United Kingdom, and is the 2nd largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held ...

. After the withdrawals of her twin sister Ann Ford and

Priscilla Welch Priscilla June Welch (born 22 November 1944) is a British retired marathon runner. She twice broke the British record for the marathon, with 2:28:54 when finishing sixth at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and 2:26:51 when finishing second at the 1 ...

due to injury, and Veronique Marot declining selection, Fudge was selected to compete in the marathon at the

1988 Seoul Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

, but she too turned the offer down. A month after the Olympics, she ran her best-ever marathon time, when finishing third at the Chicago Marathon in 2:29:47. In 2003, Fudge broke the UK W50 record by running 79:39 at the

Fleet Half Marathon The Fleet Half Marathon is an annual road running event held in Fleet, Hampshire, United Kingdom. It is organised by Fleet & Crookham AC and is currently sponsored by ASICS. The race is branded as the 'Pre-London' half marathon due to its locatio ...

. A record that stood until 2011. She became an athletics coach at her running club Windsor, Slough, Eton and Hounslow Athletic Club

International competitions

References

External links

ARRS

gbrathletics

Paul Fudge Profile at British Athletics fall of fame
1952 births Living people British female long-distance runners British female marathon runners English female long-distance runners English female marathon runners Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1978 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain Medallists at the 1978 Commonwealth Games {{England-athletics-bio-stub