Yvonne Murray

Yvonne Murray was born in Musselburgh, East Lothian, Scotland.

Murray was initially a Hockey player for Musselburgh Grammar School prior to taking up athletics in 1979.

Murray first competed on the international stage as a 16 year old representing Scotland at the 1981 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Madrid, where she finished 79th in the senior women's race. Later that year she represented Great Britain at the European Junior Championships in Utrecht, Holland where she finished 6th in the 3000m.

Murray's first major senior championship appearance was at aged 18 years, where she finished 10th in both the 1500m and 3000m finals at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane.

Her first major athletics medal was a bronze over 3000m at the 1985 European Indoor Championships in Athens.

In 1986, she won the silver medal over 3000m at the 1986 European Indoor Championships in Madrid, a bronze medal over 3000m at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh and a bronze medal again over 3000m at the 1986 European Championships in Stuttgart.

In 1987 she broke the championship record to win the 3000m at the 1987 European indoor championships in Lievin.

At the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, she won a bronze medal in the 3000m, having bravely taken the race on at 500m from the finish line. The winner, Tetyana Samolenko of the Soviet Union, tested positive for PEDS in 1993 and received a two year ban from the sport. Murray never had her Olympic medal upgraded.

In 1989 Murray won over 3000m at the IAAF Grand Prix Final in Monaco and at the IAAF World Cup in Barcelona while representing Europe, becoming the first UK Female athlete to win a World Cup track event.

In January 1990, at the Commonwealth Games in Auckland, she won silver in the 3000 m behind Canada's Angela Chalmers, with fellow Scot Liz McColgan third. Later that year, she won a gold medal over 3000m at the 1990 European Championships in Split, producing a stunning sprint at 550m from the finish line.

Murray won a gold medal at the 1993 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Toronto, again over 3000m, breaking away from the field after 1000m and winning the race by over 10 seconds, becoming the first UK Female athlete to win a World Indoor title.

In 1994, she won the silver medal over 3000m at the European Championships in Helsinki, and then went on to win a gold medal over 10,000m at the 1994 Commonwealth Games at Victoria, Canada. On her return from Canada, she won her second IAAF World Cup 3000m title in London.

Murray has won a full set of medals at the European Indoor Championships, European Outdoor Championships and the Commonwealth Games.

Murray was also a UK champion at 5000 metres in 1983 and at 3000 metres in 1985 and 1987. She was six-times AAA champion outdoors, and AAA indoor 3000m champion in 1984. Murray was five-times Scottish outdoor champion.

Murray has held the Commonwealth 2000m record since 1986, breaking her own record in 1994 with a time of 5:26.93.

Murray was awarded an MBE in 1990, was voted BBC Scotland Sports Personality of the Year in 1994 and was inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.

As at 2020, Murray remains Scotland's most decorated individual athlete in Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth competition, having won 11 medals in individual events.

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing  Scotland
1982	World Cross Country Championships	Rome, Italy	42nd	Senior race (4.663 km)	15:35.2
	Commonwealth Games	Brisbane, Australia	10th	1500 m	4:16.59
			10th	3000 m	9:21.45
1983	World Cross Country Championships	Gateshead, United Kingdom	94th	Senior race (4.072 km)	15:45
1985	World Cross Country Championships	Lisbon, Portugal	42nd	Senior race (4.99 km)	16:13
1986	World Cross Country Championships	Neuchatel, Switzerland	38th	Senior race (4.65 km)	15:48.7
	Commonwealth Games	Edinburgh, United Kingdom	5th	1500 m	4:14.36
			3rd	3000 m	8:55.32
1987	World Cross Country Championships	Warsaw, Poland	16th	Senior race (5.05 km)	17:24
1990	Commonwealth Games	Auckland, New Zealand	4th	1500 m	4:09.54
			2nd	3000 m	8:39.46
1994	Commonwealth Games	Victoria, Canada	1st	10 000 m	31:56.97
Representing  Great Britain
1985	European Indoor Championships	Piraeus, Greece	3rd	3000 m	9:00.94
1986	European Indoor Championships	Madrid, Spain	2nd	3000 m	9:01.31
	European Championships	Stuttgart, Germany	3rd	3000 m	8:37.15
1987	European Indoor Championships	Lievin, France	1st	3000 m	8:46.06
	World Indoor Championships	Indianapolis, United States	5th	3000 m	8:48.43
	World Championships	Rome, Italy	heats	1500 m	4:07.83
			7th	3000 m	8:43.94
1988	Olympic Games	Seoul, South Korea	3rd	3000 m	8:29.02
1989	World Cup	Barcelona, Spain	1st	3000 m	8:44.32
1990	European Championships	Split, Yugoslavia	1st	3000 m	8:43.06
1991	World Championships	Tokyo, Japan	10th	3000 m	8:44.52
1992	Olympic Games	Barcelona, Spain	8th	3000 m	8:55.85
1993	World Indoor Championships	Toronto, Canada	1st	3000 m	8:50.55
	World Championships	Stuttgart, Germany	9th	3000 m	8:43.46
1994	European Championships	Helsinki, Finland	2nd	3000 m	8:36.48
	World Cup	London, United Kingdom	1st	3000 m	8:56.81
1995	World Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	—	10,000 m	DNF

Note: At the 1989 World Cup, Murray was representing Europe.

• Yvonne Murray at World Athletics