The British 200 metres athletics champions covers three competitions; the current British Athletics Championships which was founded in 2007, [1] the preceding AAA Championships which existed until 2006 and the UK Athletics Championships which existed from 1977 until 1997 and ran concurrently with the AAA Championships. [2]
The AAA Championships were open to international athletes but were not considered the National Champion in this list if they won the relevant Championship.
Between 1977 and 1994, and again in 1997, two events effectively crowned national champions each year. The official UK Athletics Championships (not to be confused with the current championships, a rebranded British Athletics Championships) were specifically only open to British nationals and were organised by the national governing body. The AAA Championships continued, and due to their history, continued to be considered by both statisticians and athletes to be the more prestigious championships, with the exception of 1997 where the UK Championships were considered the principle championships for the only time. Winners at the UK Championships were nonetheless considered as having won a national title.
The UK Athletics Championships ceased to exist upon the insolvency of the governing body, the British Athletics Federation. The AAA championships continued until 2006, before they were replaced by the new British Athletics Championships.
Kathy Smallwood-Cook accumulated 11 titles in the dual championship era, and won six titles specifically in the AAA Championship continuity, a record shared with Sylvia Cheeseman. Smallwood-Cook is widely recognised as the most successful female 200 metre athlete in the history of the national championships. John Regis won a total of six AAA Championship and four UK Championships titles, with at least one title in each of nine years; however, Regis' total lies one behind the outright record from the single championship era, the seven titles won by McDonald Bailey. The two are considered the most successful male athletes in the event.