Karen Beckman (March 1960 – June 2020) was a female

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

player of

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Career

She won a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

s at the

1980 IBF World Championships The 1980 IBF World Championships were held in Jakarta, Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising ...

in women's doubles with Barbara Sutton. She represented

and won a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

in the team event, at the

1978 Commonwealth Games The 1978 Commonwealth Games were held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, from 3 to 12 August, two years after the 1976 Summer Olympics was held in Montreal, Quebec. They were boycotted by Nigeria, in protest at New Zealand's sporting contacts with a ...

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. In addition she reached the quarter-finals of the doubles and mixed doubles. Four years later, as Karen Beckman she represented

and won a gold medal in the team event and two

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

s in the women's doubles and mixed doubles, at the

1982 Commonwealth Games The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Australia, from 30 September to 9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium (named after Elizabeth II), in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The mixed doubles medal was with her brother, Duncan Bridge.

Personal life

She was a coach for the Wilson Boys' School's badminton team and a part-time coach for the Wimbledon Racquets and Fitness Club's junior badminton team towards the end of her life. She has a son, Ben Beckman, who has also successfully played badminton for England. Beckman died of cancer in June 2020.

Achievements

World Championships

''Women's doubles''

Commonwealth Games

''Women's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

European Championships

''Women's singles'' ''Women's doubles''

European Junior Championships

''Girls' singles'' ''Girls' doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

IBF Grand Prix

The World Badminton Grand Prix was sanctioned by the International Badminton Federation (IBF) from 1983-2006. ''Women's singles'' ''Women's doubles''

IBF International

''Women's singles'' ''Women's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

References

European resultsEnglish statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bridge, Karen English female badminton players 1960 births 2020 deaths Deaths from cancer in England Badminton players at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games gold medallists in badminton Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Commonwealth Games silver medallists in badminton Medallists at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1982 Commonwealth Games 20th-century English sportswomen