Catherine Murphy (sprinter)

Catherine Ann Murphy (born 21 September 1975) is a Welsh former athlete who competed mainly in the 200 metres and 400 metres. She finished fourth in the 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2004 Athens Olympics, fourth in the 400 metres at the 2003 World Indoor Championships, and won a bronze medal in the 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2005 European Indoor Championships.

Career

Born in Sheffield, Murphy won the 1993 English Schools 200m title in a wind-assisted 23.72 secs. As a member of the London club Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers, she defeated club-mate Simmone Jacobs to win the 1995 AAA Championships 200m title in 23.40 secs, which qualified her for the 4 × 100 m relay at the 1995 World Championships in Gothenburg.^[1]^[2] The relay team finished the preliminary round ninth place; eighth place would have qualified them for the finals.

She finished fourth in the 200m final at the 1996 AAA Championships/Olympic trials.

In 2001, Murphy became the first woman in history to win the 200m/400m double at the AAA Indoor Championships,^[3] winning in the Welsh record times of 23.35 and 52.31. The 200m record still stands (as of 2018). She went on to be a member of the British quartet that finished fifth in the 4 × 400m relay at the 2001 World Championships in Edmonton, and to finish sixth in the 400 metres final at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

Murphy improved her Welsh indoor 400m record to 51.74 secs in the semifinals of the 2003 World Indoor Championships, a record that stood until Seren Bundy-Davies ran 51.72 in 2016. Murphy ran 51.99 for fourth in the final, and was also fourth in the 4 × 400m relay. At the 2004 Athens Olympics, she again finished fourth in the 4 × 400m relay, along with Donna Fraser, Christine Ohuruogu and Lee McConnell.^[4] In 2005, she won a bronze medal in the 4 × 400m relay at the European Indoor Championships.

A month after competing at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, Murphy announced her retirement from athletics on 28 April 2006. She has two children, Isabella (born 2009) and Benjamin (born 2011).

International competitions

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing Great Britain / Wales
1995	World Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	9th (h)	4 × 100 m	43.90
2001	World Indoor Championships	Lisbon, Portugal	8th (sf)	400 m	52.45
	World Championships	Edmonton, Canada	27th (h)	400 m	52.40
	World Championships	Edmonton, Canada	6th	4 × 400 m	3:26.94
2002	European Indoor Championships	Vienna, Austria	6th	400 m	52.98
2002	Commonwealth Games	Manchester, United Kingdom	6th	400 m	52.91
2003	World Indoor Championships	Birmingham, United Kingdom	4th	51.99	400 m
	World Indoor Championships	Birmingham, United Kingdom	4th	4 × 400 m	3:32.18
	World Championships	Paris, France	6th	4 × 400 m	3:26.67
2004	Olympic Games	Athens, Greece	4th	4 400 m	3:25.12
2005	European Indoor Championships	Madrid, Spain	3rd	4 × 400 m	3:29.81
2006	Commonwealth Games	Melbourne, Australia	20th (sf)	400 m	55.35
(#) Indicates overall position in qualifying heats (h) or semifinals (sf)

References

^ "AAA Championships (Women)". GBR Athletics. Retrieved 27 March 2018.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ Rowbottom, Mike (2 February 1996). "Murphy walks tall in the sprint". Independent. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
^ "AAA Indoor Championships (Women)". GBR Athletics. Archived from the original on 18 September 2018. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
^ "Catherine Murphy". Olympics at Sports Reference. Retrieved 27 March 2018.

This biographical article relating to Welsh athletics is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] "AAA Championships (Women)". GBR Athletics. Retrieved 27 March 2018.^{[permanent dead link‍]}

[2] Rowbottom, Mike (2 February 1996). "Murphy walks tall in the sprint". Independent. Retrieved 2 March 2020.

[3] "AAA Indoor Championships (Women)". GBR Athletics. Archived from the original on 18 September 2018. Retrieved 27 March 2018.

[4] "Catherine Murphy". Olympics at Sports Reference. Retrieved 27 March 2018.

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