Anne Purvis (née Clarkson, born 5 March 1959) is a Scottish former athlete who specialised in the 800 metres. She won a silver medal in the 800 metres 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 ...

and finished fourth in the 800m final at the

1986 Commonwealth Games The 1986 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a 'Cho-fhlaitheis 1986) were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, between 24 July and 2 August 1986. They were the second Games to be held in Edinburgh. Thirty two of the eligible fifty nine countries (largel ...

. She also won the AAAs Championship title in 1980 and 1981, and the UK Championships title in 1982 and 1986.

Career

As Anne Clarkson, she won the AAAs Championship 800m title in 1980 in 2:01.89, and 1981 in 2:03.92. In 1982, she won the UK Championship title in 2:03.6 in May. Two months later, she ran her lifetime best for the 800m with 2:00.20 on 7 July 1982 in Oslo. This narrowly missed the then Scottish record of 2:00.15 by Rosemary Stirling from 1972. Later that year, she won a silver medal in the 800m at the

in Brisbane, behind another Scots-born athlete,

Kirsty McDermott Kirsty Wade (née McDermott, born 6 August 1962) is a British former middle-distance runner. She is a three-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist representing Wales, winning the 800 metres in Brisbane 1982 and both the 800 metres and 1500 m ...

, who was representing Wales. She also won a bronze medal in the 4x400m relay with teammates

Linsey MacDonald Linsey Macdonald (born 14 February 1964) is a former Scottish sprinter from Dunfermline, Fife, who specialised in the 400 metres. She was nicknamed "The Fife Flyer" during her career. Inspired by competitors like Mary Peters she started in at ...

, Angela Bridgeman and Sandra Whittaker. As Anne Purvis, she finished second to

Shireen Bailey Shireen Bailey ( Hassan; born 27 September 1959) is an English former middle distance runner who competed in the 800 metres and the 1500 metres. She represented Great Britain in both events at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. In 1983, she became ...

at the AAAs Championship 800m in 1983, and second behind Christina Boxer at the AAAs in 1985. She won her second UK Championship title in May 1986, running 2:01.63 to defeat Helen Thorpe and

Lorraine Baker Lorraine Baker-Strain (born 9 April 1964) is an England, English former Middle-distance running, middle-distance runner who competed in the 800 metres. She represented Great Britain at the Summer Olympics, Olympic Games in 1984 Summer Olympics, ...

. In July 1986, she finished fourth in the 800m final at the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, behind Kirsty Wade,

Diane Edwards Diane Dolores Modahl (née Edwards, born 17 June 1966) is an English former middle distance runner who specialised in the 800 metres. She won Gold in the 800 m title at the 1990 Commonwealth Games, Silver at the 1986 Commonwealth Games, a ...

and Lorraine Baker. She was second to Edwards at the 1987 AAA Championships. As of 2021, Purvis ranks sixth on the Scottish all-time list for 800 m, behind Laura Muir, Jemma Reekie, Lynsey Sharp, Susan Scott and Rosemary Stirling.

Competition record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Purvis, Anne 1959 births Living people Scottish female middle-distance runners Competitors at the 1987 Summer Universiade Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Scotland Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Scotland Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1982 Commonwealth Games