The 1964 British West Indies Championships was the fifth edition of the track and field competition between British colony nations in the Caribbean. This marked the relaunching of the competition after a three-year break, during which the West Indies Federation had been dissolved. It was held in Kingston, Jamaica. A total of 25 events were contested, fifteen by men and ten by women. The 400 metres was added to the women's programme. The number of men's events was reduced, with the 10,000 metres, half marathon, pole vault and relay races all being dropped. [1]
The British West Indies Championships was an annual track and field competition between nations involved in the West Indies Federation and several other Caribbean nations with a British colonial history. Like the federation itself, the competition was short-lived: first held in 1957, it ceased after 1965. The competition was created at a time of much sporting co-operation within the region – a British West Indies team was sent to both the 1959 Pan American Games and the 1960 Summer Olympics.
Track and field is a sport which includes athletic contests established on the skills of running, jumping, and throwing. The name is derived from the sport's typical venue: a stadium with an oval running track enclosing a grass field where the throwing and some of the jumping events take place. Track and field is categorized under the umbrella sport of athletics, which also includes road running, cross country running, and race walking.
The West Indies Federation, also known as the West Indies, the Federation of the West Indies or the West Indian Federation, was a short-lived political union that existed from 3 January 1958 to 31 May 1962. Various islands in the Caribbean that were colonies of the United Kingdom, including Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Jamaica, and those on the Leeward and Windward Islands, came together to form the Federation, with its capital in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. The expressed intention of the Federation was to create a political unit that would become independent from Britain as a single state—possibly similar to the Canadian Confederation, Australian Commonwealth, or Central African Federation; however, before that could happen, the Federation collapsed due to internal political conflicts over how the Federation itself would be governed or how it would viably function. The territories that would have become part of the Federation eventually became the nine contemporary sovereign states of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago; with Anguilla, Montserrat, the Cayman Islands, and Turks and Caicos Islands becoming British overseas territories. British Guiana (Guyana) and British Honduras (Belize) held observer status within the West Indies Federation.
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Bahamian 100 metres runner Tom Robinson was the only athlete to defend his title from the 1960 championships, although multiple former champion George Kerr topped the podium in a different middle-distance event. John Mowatt completed a double in the 5000 metres and 3000 metres steeplechase. The versatile Jamaican Wellesley Clayton took both the 110 metres hurdles and long jump gold medals. Jamaica completed a sweep of the women's titles and had three double champions: Carmen Smith (100 m and 80 metres hurdles), Una Morris (200 m and 400 m) and Joan Gordon (shot put and discus throw). [1]
The 100 metres, or 100 metre dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, it is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1928 for women.
Thomas Augustus "Tom" Robinson, MBE was a track and field athlete from the Bahamas, who competed in the sprint events. He was born in Nassau, New Providence. Thomas Robinson Stadium in the Bahamian capital Nassau is named for him since its construction in 1981.
George Ezekiel Kerr was a Jamaican athlete who competed in the 400 and 800 metres. He competed for the British West Indies at the 1960 Summer Olympics, where he won the bronze medal in the 800 metres. He then teamed up with Keith Gardner, Malcolm Spence and James Wedderburn to win the bronze medal in the 4×400 metres relay.
All the champions are known, but data is limited for the minor medallists.
