{{short description|English middle-distance runner}} {{distinguish|Elizabeth Barnes}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Use British English|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox sportsperson | name = Liz Barnes | image = | caption = | nationality = British (English) | sport = Athletics | event = Middle-distance running | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1951|8|3|df=yes}} | birth_place = Woolwich, London, England | death_date = | death_place = | club = Cambridge Harriers | height =163 cm | weight =54 kg | medaltemplates = {{MedalSport|Women's athletics}} {{MedalCountry|{{GBR2}}}} {{MedalCompetition|European Indoor Championships}} {{MedalBronze|1980 Sindelfingen|800 m}} }}

'''Elizabeth Ann Barnes''' (married name '''Laban;''' born 3 August 1951) is an English former middle-distance runner. She represented Great Britain in the women's 800 metres at the 1976 Montreal Olympics and won a bronze medal in the 800m at the 1980 European Indoor Championships.

== Biography == As Liz Barnes, finished third behind Donna Murray in the 400 metres event at the 1975 WAAA Championships.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002137/19750720/310/0039 |title=Athletic Results |work=Sunday Mirror |date=20 July 1975 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=8 March 2025 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nuts.org.uk/Champs/AAA/index.htm |title=AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists |website=National Union of Track Statisticians |access-date=8 March 2025}}</ref>

Barnes ran her lifetime best for the 800 metres with 2:01.35 on 10 July 1976 in Zurich, before going on to compete at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, where she was eliminated in the heats of the 800m, running 2:01.70, and finished seventh in the final of the 4 × 400m relay, along with Gladys Taylor, Verona Elder and Donna Murray.<ref name="SportsRef">{{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ba/liz-barnes-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417191002/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ba/liz-barnes-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 April 2020 |title=Liz Barnes Olympic Results |accessdate=2 September 2017}}</ref>

At the 1978 Commonwealth Games representing England in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Barnes finished fourth in the 800&nbsp;m final in 2:03.41.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://teamengland.org/commonwealth-games-history/edmonton-1978/athletes|title=1978 Athletes|website=Team England}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://thecgf.com/results/athletes/40873|title=Athletes and results|website=Commonwealth Games Federation|access-date=28 September 2019|archive-date=28 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190928095426/https://thecgf.com/results/athletes/40873|url-status=dead}}</ref> Three weeks later, she reached the semifinals at the 1978 European Championships in Prague, running 2:01.69.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.european-athletics.org/competitions/european-athletics-championships/history/year=1978/results/index.html |work=European Athletics Association |title=1978 European Championships |access-date=21 March 2018}}</ref>

Barnes finished second behind Christina Boxer in 2:02.04 at the 1979 UK Championships and third in 2:02.74 behind Chris Benning and Janet Prictoe at the 1979 WAAA Championships,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gbrathletics.com/bc/waaa.htm |title=AAA Championships (women) |website=GBR Athletics |access-date=8 March 2025 }}</ref> before going on to win a bronze medal at the 1980 European Indoor Championships in Sindelfingen.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gbrathletic.com\ic\eiw.htm |work=Gbr Athletics |title=European Indoor Championships (women) |access-date=21 March 2018 }}{{Dead link|date=March 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Her time of 2:01.5 moved her to second on the British Indoor all-time list behind Jane Colebrook's 2:01.12 from 1977. She would remain second on the British indoor all-time list until Kelly Holmes ran 1:59.21 in 2003.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gbrathletics.com/uk/iwu99.htm |work=GBR Athletics |title=UK all-time indoor (women) |access-date=21 March 2018}}</ref>

==International competitions== {| {{AchievementTable|Event=yes}} |- !colspan=6|Representing {{GBR2}} / {{ENG}} |- |rowspan=2|1976 |rowspan=2|Olympic Games |rowspan=2|Montreal, Canada |15th (h) |800 m |2:01.70 |- |7th |4 × 400 m |3:28.01 |- |rowspan=2|1978 |Commonwealth Games |Edmonton, Canada |4th |800 m |2:03.41 |- |European Championships |Prague, Czechoslavkia |11th (sf) |800 m |2:01.69 |- |1980 |European Indoor Championships |Sindelfingen, Germany |bgcolor=cc9966|3rd |800 m |2:01.5 |- !colspan=6|<small>''' (#) Indicates overall position in qualifying heats (h) or semifinals (sf)'''</small> |}

== References == {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{sports links}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, Liz}} Category:1951 births Category:Living people Category:Athletes from London Category:English women sprinters Category:British women sprinters Category:English women middle-distance runners Category:British women middle-distance runners Category:Olympic athletes for Great Britain Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Category:Commonwealth Games athletes for England Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Category:Olympic women sprinters Category:20th-century English sportswomen