UK Athletics Championships
The UK Athletics Championships was an annual national championship in track and field for the United Kingdom, organised by the British Athletics Federation. The event incorporated the 1980 Olympic trials for the British Olympic team. The venue for the event was rotational and designed to be inclusive – all four Home Nations hosted the event during its twenty-year existence, as well as several areas of England.
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 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 the competition defunct. The AAA Championships would later be superseded by the British Athletics Championships, organised by UK Athletics – the government-led successor organisation to the British Athletics Federation.
Events
The following athletics events featured as standard on the UK Athletics Championships programme:- Sprint: 100 m, 200 m, 400 m
- Distance track events: 800 m, 1500 m, 5000 m
- Hurdles: 100 m hurdles, 110 m hurdles, 400 m hurdles, 3000 m steeplechase
- Jumps: long jump, triple jump, high jump, pole vault
- Throws: shot put, discus, hammer, javelin
- Racewalking: 5000 m walk, 10,000 metres walk
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.
Editions
Most successful athletes by event
Multiple champions
A total of 18 athletes won five or more titles at 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.| Athlete | Titles | Events |
| Judy Oakes | Shot put | 10 |
| Linford Christie | 100 metres, 200 metres | 8 |
| Fatima Whitbread | Javelin throw | 8 |
| Paul Head | Hammer throw | 7 |
| Paul Mardle | Discus throw | 6 |
| Heather Hunte | 100 metres, 200 metres | 6 |
| Kathy Smallwood-Cook | 100 metres, 200 metres | 5 |
| Paula Dunn | 100 metres, 200 metres | 5 |
| Christina Boxer | 800 metres, 1500 metres | 5 |
| Liz McColgan | 3000 metres, 5000 metres, 10,000 metres | 5 |
| Paul Edwards | Shot put | 5 |
| Venissa Head | Shot put, Discus throw | 8 |
| Jackie McKernan | Discus throw | 5 |
| David Ottley | Javelin throw | 5 |
| Mick Hill | Javelin throw | 5 |
| Ian McCombie | 10,000 metres walk | 5 |
| Aston Moore | Triple jump | 5 |
| Andy Ashurst | Pole vault | 5 |