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33-501: Created in 1977 and open only to British athletes, the event was initiated to provide an alternative to the AAA Championships , which was open to foreign athletes and was organised by an English amateur organisation. The event failed to displace the long-established AAA event and did not attract the nation's best athletes. The event was not part of a formal international selection process and the competition's early scheduling in

66-481: A 7 miles walk . On 4 April 1880 a meeting of representatives of the chief athletic clubs in the country was held at Oxford for the purpose of forming a governing body possessing the power of framing the laws and regulations of (track and field) athletics. The Amateur Athletic Association was the result. At that meeting the representatives of the Amateur Athletic Club handed over to the new association

99-512: A bookkeeper . During his 21-year career, Myers held every American record for races 50 yards to one mile . He won 15 United States national championships, 10 Canadian national championships, and 3 British national championships. From 1880 to 1888, he held the world records in the 100-yard , 440-yard , and 880-yard races. Myers began running competitively in 1878, for the Knickerbocker Yacht Club . He then ran for

132-645: A book on Foreign Secretaries of the Nineteenth Century. 1 mile - Challenge Cup presented by Charles Bennett Lawes Esq. From Teignmouth, Devon, Lawes, went to Eton, and Trinity College, Cambridge University. He won the AAC 1 mile championship in 1866. 1st President Incorporated Society of British Sculptors. 4 miles - Challenge Cup presented by the Early of Jersey, 60 guineas. At the Oxford vs Cambridge match in 1865 he

165-498: A one-off at the 1992 edition. The women's walk was also dropped from the programme for the 1982 championships. The javelin model used in the men's event changed to the international standard in 1986. In line with international changes, the women's programme gradually expanded to match the men's, with the first triple jump championship held in 1990, then the first women's pole vault and hammer throw UK champions being crowned in 1993. A total of 18 athletes won five or more titles at

198-537: A stand-alone event in its own right from that point onwards, though it re-emerged in 2016 in being co-held with the English Athletics Championships organised by England Athletics (a body for developing the grassroots level beneath UK Athletics). The long-distance track events , marathon , racewalking events and combined track and field events were regularly held outside of the main track and field championship competition. Although

231-482: The de facto British Championships, given the absence of such a competition for most of its history. It was typically held over two or three days over a weekend in July or August. Foreign athletes were no longer allowed to compete from 1998 onwards (with the change first being trialled in 1996), though they were still allowed to participate (but not formally placed) in the 10,000 m and marathon events. The creation of

264-456: The 50-yard dash (5.5 seconds, amateur record; 1884), 100-yard dash (10.0; tying two others; 1880), 200 (20.3; 1881), 300 (31.375; 1881), 440 (48.6; 1881), 700 (1:31; 1882), 880 (1:55.4; 1884), 1,320 (3:13, 1882), and the mile (4:22.6; 1882). The press in England had cast doubt on Myers' performances, asserting that Americans were deficient in the ability to time races properly, and questioning

297-618: The AAA Championships was Europe's most prestigious athletics event until the European Athletics Championships were inaugurated in 1934. Events were contested and measured in imperial units until metrification in 1969, in line with international standards. Though organised by the English governing body, it was open to athletes from all over the world. The first overseas champion was Lon Myers of

330-418: The AAC, 35 guineas. List of British athletics champions Lon Myers Laurence Eugene "Lon" Myers (February 16, 1858 – February 16, 1899) was an American sprinter and middle distance runner . Myers won 28 national championships. He also set world records at 11 different distances, and held every American record for races 50 yards to one mile Myers set a world quarter-mile record while running

363-589: The AAU national championship 220, 440, and 880 races and the 100-yard dash, all in the same day. He won the same four races three days later at the Canadian Nationals. That year, he set an American record in the 100-yard dash (10.0 seconds; tying two others), and world records in the 250 (26.25 seconds), 300, 320 (35.125 seconds), 500 (58 seconds), 600 (1:11.4), 660 (1:22.0), 880 (1:56.125), 1,000 (2:18.25), and mile (4:29.50). Unusual distances in some of

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396-659: The American record in the 50-yard dash, at 5.5 seconds, and the 880, at 1:55.4. In 1885, after setting world records in the 440 on grass (49.4), the 840 on grass (1:48.6), and the 880 on grass (1:56.5), he announced that he intended to retire. In his career he set world records in 11 different distances: the 250 (26.0 seconds; 1882), 350 (36.8; 1881), 400 (43.675; 1882), 440 on grass (49.4; 1885), 500 (58.0; 1880), 600 (1:11.4; 1882), 660 (1:22.0; 1880), 800 (1:44.4; 1882), 840 on grass (1:48.6; 1885), 880 on grass (1:56.5; 1885), and 1,000 (2:13.0; 1881). He also set American records in

429-694: The UK Athletics Championships in 1977 under the British Amateur Athletic Board (later British Athletics Federation ) marked a challenge to the event's domestic supremacy, though the quality of that rival event declined after it hosted the 1980 Olympic trials and it ceased as an annual championships after 1993, closing completely after 1997. The AAA Championships incorporated the UK Olympic trials every four years from 1988 to 2004. The women's WAAA Championships

462-511: The UK Athletics Championships. Women's shot putter Judy Oakes won the most titles overall, with ten national wins. Linford Christie was the most successful man, with eight titles across the 100 metres and 200 metres . List of British athletics champions AAA Championships The AAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England . It

495-653: The United States who won the 440 yards in 1881. the first winner from Africa was Arthur Wharton from Ghana who won the 100 yards in 1886 and 1887. Foreign champions out-numbered those from the United Kingdom for the first time in 1904 when the United States team on their way to Paris for the Olympic Games stopped off in London and won eight of the fourteen events then on the programme. It served as

528-511: The accuracy of American watches. Myers came out of retirement and became a professional in 1886 to run against English champion Walter George , the world record holder in the mile. George had become a professional two years earlier, and had challenged Myers. They competed in the "Middle Distance Championship of the World", before thousands of fans at Madison Square Garden . Myers beat George at 1,000 yards, 1,320 yards, and 1 mile, and received

561-556: The bulk of his career for the Manhattan Athletic Club . Myers was the first runner to run the quarter-mile in under 50 seconds (49.2), doing so in 1879. On September 20, 1879, he ran the quarter-mile in 49.5 seconds despite running the final 120 yards without his right shoe, setting a world record. At the 1879 U.S. Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) national championships, Myers won the 220 (22.75), 440 (49.2), and 880, setting records in each event. In 1880, he won

594-642: The calendar was not conducive to participation; the event often took place in May, which was well before the peak of the track and field season in August and early September. The annual format ceased after 1993. The British Athletics Federation organised a "British Championships" event in 1997, which proved to be the most important domestic competition that season. The bankruptcy of the British Athletics Federation that same year effectively rendered

627-603: The challenge cups that had been competed for since the championship meeting was instituted in 1866. There were initially just nine cups, shown with their notional insurance value, as follows: 100 yards - Challenge Cup presented by Prince Hassan, 60 guineas. Prince Hassan was the brother of Tewfik Pasha the Khedive of Egypt, and was educated in England. 440 yards - Challenge Cup presented by Kenelm Thomas Digby , Esq., MP, 45 guineas, an Irish politician. 880 yards - Challenge Cup presented by Percy Melville Thornton, 45 guineas. Thornton

660-571: The competition defunct. Both the UK Championships, and the AAA Championships would later be superseded by the British Athletics Championships , organised by UK Athletics – the government-led successor organisation to the British Athletics Federation. The following athletics events featured as standard on the UK Athletics Championships programme: A men's 3000 metres was contested from 1989 to 1993, while

693-505: The competition venue varied over the years, there were several locations that served as regular hosts over its history: Stamford Bridge (1886 to 1931), White City Stadium (1932 to 1970), Crystal Palace National Sports Centre (1971 to 1987) and Alexander Stadium (1984 to 2003). In 1880 the programme consisted of fourteen events; 100 yards, 440 yards, 880 yards, 1 mile , 4 miles, 10 miles , steeplechase , 120 yards hurdles, high jump , pole vault , long jump , shot put , hammer and

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726-412: The feat at Beaufort House. In 1868 and 1869 he won both the 1 mile and 4 miles events at the AAC championship, and he again won the 1 mile in 1871. High jump - Challenge Cup presented by Sir Claude Champion de Crespigny, 3rd Baronet , 35 guineas. 120 yards hurdles - Challenge Cup presented by Lord Southwell , 45 guineas. 7 miles walk - Challenge Cup presented by John Chambers , founder and secretary of

759-533: The final 120 yards without his right shoe, and finished another race that he won running sideways (in conversation with a runner who had boasted that he would defeat Myers). Myers was Jewish , and was born in Richmond, Virginia , to Solomon H. Myers, a clerk. He was in the first graduating class of Richmond High School . His father moved the family to Jersey City , New Jersey, in 1875 after he graduated high school, and then to New York City , where he became

792-461: The first, Myers beat George 1:56 3⁄5 to 1:57 in the 880 yards. The next week, George led all the way in defeating his rival 4:21 2⁄5 to 4:27 3⁄5 in the mile. In the final 3/4 mile showdown, 60,000 watched George and Myers battle on a cold day on a bad track. George led narrowly with a 61 2⁄5 and 2:02¾ before Myers took the lead. But Myers staggered at the end and collapsed after crossing in 3:13 – behind George who won in 3:10½. Both fell unconscious after

825-412: The race and George described it as "the most gruelling race I ever ran." Myers subsequently was with greater frequency not allowed to participate in some races, as few runners wanted to compete against him. In 1882, he set world records at 250 yards (26.0), 400 yards (43.625), and 800 yards (1:44.4), and American records in a sixth-of-a-mile hurdle race (37.125) and at 700 yards (1:31). In 1884, he set

858-450: The races were a product of the fact that tracks at the time varied in length. In 1881, after a runner in England boasted as to how he would fare against Myers in a 440 race, Myers finished the race running sideways and asking the fellow whether he might not be able to run faster—before beating him by five yards, in 48.6 seconds. That year he also lowered the world record in the 880 to 1:55.5 (beating his nearest competitor by 100 yards), and

891-437: The women's event lasted from 1977 to 1992, being the standard distance event for women at the time. Women raced over 5000 m from 1982 to 1997, with interruptions in 1986–87 and 1990–93. The men's 10,000 metres was stopped after 1988, with a one-off re-instatement in 1997. Women raced over that distance in 1986 and 1997 only. The men's and women's walking events were first introduced at the 1980 edition, though were dropped as

924-586: The world record in the 1,000 to 2:13. In 1881 he also set the world record in the half mile (1:56); he lowered it to 1:55.4 in 1884. He also set the world record in the 350, at 36.8 seconds, and 1,000 yards, at 2:13.0. Walter George , the top British miler, faced Myers over a series of three races in November 1882. A total of 130,000 attended these races at the Polo Grounds in New York City. In

957-422: Was folded into the AAA Championships in 1988. The establishment of UK Athletics in 1999 to serve as the national governing body for professional, elite athletics ultimately started the decline of the AAA Championships. UK Athletics took over the role of both national championships and international team selection with its own British Athletics Championships from 2007 onwards. The AAA Championships ceased to be

990-632: Was founded in 1880, replacing the Amateur Athletic Club (AAC) Championships , which had been held since 1866. Initially a men-only competition, a Women's AAA Championships was introduced in 1922 with the first proper WAAA Championships in 1923 and organised by the Women's Amateur Athletics Association until 1992, at which point it was folded into the Amateur Athletics Association. During the 1920s and early 1930s,

1023-562: Was fourth in the 2 miles, in a blinding snowstorm. The following year he was third in a 1-mile race won by Arthur Kemble in a howling gale. He was first President of the AAA. 10 miles - Challenge Cup presented by Walter Moresby Chinnery of the London Athletic Club, 50 guineas. Chinnery was the first amateur to run 1 mile in less than four and a half minutes, which he did at Cambridge on 10 March 1868, and on 30 May that year he repeated

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1056-667: Was the foremost domestic athletics event in the United Kingdom during its lifetime, despite the existence of the official UK Athletics Championships organised by the then governing body for British athletics, the British Athletics Federation between 1977 and 1993, and again in 1997. It was succeeded by the British Athletics Championships , organised by the BEF's replacement (successor), UK Athletics under its brand name British Athletics . The competition

1089-644: Was the son of Rear-Admiral Samuel Thornton. Educated at Harrow, an Oxford graduate, he won the AAC 880 yards in 1866, was the first Secretary of the Inter-University sports, inspired the boat race near Ghent in 1911 between 8 Jesus college oarsmen and a Belgian crew. Was Honorary Secretary Middlesex County Cricket Club for many years, an MP for the Clapham division of Battersea from 1892 to 1910. Married his cousin Florence Emily Sykes and wrote

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