Anne Purvis Explained

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 and finished fourth in the 800m final at the 1986 Commonwealth Games. 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.^[1] In 1982, she won the UK Championship title in 2:03.6 in May.^[2] 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 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, behind another Scots-born athlete, Kirsty McDermott, who was representing Wales. She also won a bronze medal in the 4x400m relay with teammates Linsey MacDonald, Angela Bridgeman and Sandra Whittaker.

As Anne Purvis, she finished second to Shireen Bailey 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. In July 1986, she finished fourth in the 800m final at the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, behind Kirsty Wade, Diane Edwards 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.^[3]

Competition record

Representing
1982	European Championships	Athens, Greece	semifinal	800 m	2:00.34
1983	European Cup	London, United Kingdom	7th	800 m	2:03.66
Representing
1982	Commonwealth Games	Brisbane, Australia	bgcolor=silver	2nd	800 m	2:01.52
			3rd	4x400 m	3:32.92
1986	Commonwealth Games	Edinburgh, United Kingdom	4th	800 m	2:02.17
			4th	4x400 m	3:42.86
National Championships
1980	AAA Championships	London, England	bgcolor=gold	1st	800 m	2:01.89
1981	AAA Championships	London, England	bgcolor=gold	1st	800 m	2:03.92
1982	UK Championships	Cwmbran, Wanles	bgcolor=gold	1st	800 m	2:03.6
1983	AAA Championships	London, England	bgcolor=silver	2nd	800 m	2:00.74
1984	AAA Championships	London, England	bgcolor=cc996	3rd	800 m	2:02.98
1985	AAA Championships	Birmingham, England	bgcolor=silver	2nd	800 m	2:02.41
1986	UK Championships	Cwmbran, Wales	bgcolor=gold	1st	800 m	2:01.63
1987	AAA Championships	Birmingham, England	bgcolor=silver	2nd	800 m	2:04.40

Notes and References

1. Web site: AAAs Championships (women) . GBR athletics . 29 November 2016.
2. Web site: UK Championships . GBR athletics . 29 November 2016.
3. Web site: 800m women overall all-time Scotland . Power of 10 . 29 November 2016.