{{short description|English middle-distance runner}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}} {{Use British English|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox sportsperson | name = Paula Fryer | birth_name = | image = | caption = | nationality = British (English) | sport = Middle-distance running | event = 800 metres | club = Sale Harriers Manchester | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1969|7|14|df=yes}} | birth_place = Leeds, England | death_date = | death_place = | height = 164 cm | weight =52 kg }}
'''Paula Tracey Fryer''' (born 14 July 1969) is an English former middle-distance runner. She represented Great Britain in the women's 800 metres at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. She also won the UK Championships and AAA Championships 800m titles in 1991 and competed at the 1991 World Championships.
== Biography r== Born in Leeds,<ref name="SportsRef">{{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/fr/paula-fryer-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418041823/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/fr/paula-fryer-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 April 2020 |title=Paula Fryer Olympic Results |accessdate=22 October 2017}}</ref> Fryer was a member of Sale Harriers Manchester. She won the 800 metres title at the AAA Junior Championships in 1986, 1987 and 1988.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gbrathletics.com/bc/waaaj.htm |work=GBR Athletics |title=AAA Junior Championships (Women) |accessdate=20 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181030222908/http://www.gbrathletics.com/bc/waaaj.htm |archive-date=30 October 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> At the 1988 World Junior Championships in Canada, she ran 2:07.20 in the heats to qualify for the semifinals as a fastest loser, where she was eliminated running 2:09.04.
Fryer reached her peak in 1991. After winning the 800m titles at the AAA Indoor Championships in 2:08.91,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gbrathletics.com/bc/waaai.htm |work=GBR Athletics |title=AAA Indoor Championships (Women) |accessdate=20 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180918002631/http://www.gbrathletics.com/bc/waaai.htm |archive-date=18 September 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and the UK Championships in June in 2:05.43,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gbrathletics.com/bc/uk.htm |work=GBR Athletics |title=UK Championships (Women) |accessdate=20 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181002171009/http://www.gbrathletics.com/bc/uk.htm |archive-date=2 October 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> she achieved her lifetime best in the 800m with 1:59.76 when finishing fourth at the Golden Gala Rome grand prix on 17 July,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.iaaf.org/athletes/great-britain-ni/paula-fryer-66988 |work=IAAF |title=Paula Fryer |accessdate=20 March 2018}}</ref> to become the seventh British woman (after Christina Boxer, Shireen Bailey, Kirsty McDermott, Lorraine Baker, Diane Edwards and Ann Williams) to run under two minutes for 800m. She went on to win the 1991 AAA Championships title ahead of Lorraine Baker in 2:02.19,<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=30 March 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gbrathletics.com/bc/waaa.htm |title=AAA Championships (women) |website=GBR Athletics |access-date=30 March 2025 }}</ref> to earn selection for the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo, where she was eliminated in the heats in 2:04.64.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.todor66.com/athletics/world/1991/Women_800m.html |work=Todor 66 |title=1991 World Championships Women 800m |accessdate=20 March 2018}}</ref>
Fryer finished second in 2:01.07 behind Diane Edwards at the 1992 AAA Championships/Olympic trials, to earn selection for the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, where she was eliminated in the heats running 2:02.72.<ref name="SportsRef"/>
==International competitions== {| {{AchievementTable|Event=yes}} |- !colspan=6|Representing {{GBR2}} |- |rowspan=2|1988 |rowspan=2|World Junior Championships |rowspan=2|Sudbury, Canada |14th (sf) |800 m |2:09.04 |- |9th (h) |4 × 400 m |3:42.36 |- |1991 |World Championships |Tokyo, Japan |25th (h) |800 m |2:04.64 |- |1992 |Olympic Games |Barcelona, Spain |25th (h) |800 m |2:02.74 |- !colspan=6|<small>''' (#) Indicates overall position in qualifying heats (h) or semifinals (sf)'''</small> |- |}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{sports links}}
{{Footer UK NC 800 Metres Women}} {{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fryer, Paula}} Category:1969 births Category:Living people Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Category:Olympic athletes for Great Britain Category:Place of birth missing (living people) Category:English women middle-distance runners Category:British women middle-distance runners Category:Athletes from Leeds Category:World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain Category:20th-century English sportswomen