![]() | This article needs to be updated.(September 2020) |
![]() | |
Sport | Athletics |
---|---|
Abbreviation | UKA |
Founded | 1999 |
Affiliation | World Athletics |
Regional affiliation | European Athletics |
Location | Birmingham, England |
President | Denise Lewis [1] |
Chairman | Ian Beattie |
Replaced | British Athletics Federation |
Official website | |
www | |
![]() |
UK Athletics (UKA) is the governing body for the sport of athletics in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for overseeing the governance of athletics events in the UK as well as athletes, their development, and athletics officials. The organisation outwardly rebranded itself as British Athletics in 2013, although it remains legally known as UK Athletics, and continues to use the UK Athletics name in internal governance. [2] Among other duties, the organisation selects athletes to represent Great Britain and Northern Ireland in international competitions outside the Commonwealth Games, and organises the major national championships in Great Britain for the sport indoors and out. in 2023 the organisation began once more to brand its national championships under the UK Athletics Championships title, but the remain one and the same championships.
UK Athletics is structured as a non-profit company limited by guarantee. It has four member organisations from each of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom: England Athletics, Scottish Athletics, Welsh Athletics, and Athletics Northern Ireland.
UK Athletics was founded in 1999 as a successor to the British Athletics Federation, [3] which had collapsed for financial reasons. Prominent among the reasons was the cost of the legal bills in the Diane Modahl contract dispute case. [4] [5]
Former long-distance runner David Moorcroft, previously Chief Executive of the British Athletics Federation, continued in the same role at the newly formed UKA. [6] He headed the organisation until 2006 when he stepped down after Great Britain's worst performance at a European Athletics Championships for twenty years. The results in Gothenburg (their sole gold medal coming in the 100 m relay) were below expectations and failed to meet the target for improving British athletics in preparation for the upcoming 2012 London Olympics. [7] Moorcroft's departure triggered a restructuring of the organisation and the creation of the role of chairman, to which businessman Ed Warner was appointed. [8]
Charles van Commenee was made national head coach, a newly created role, in September 2008. [9] [10] Shortly afterwards Peter Eriksson was appointed head coach of the Paralympic Programme. [11] Van Commenee stepped down after the London 2012 Olympics due to the team's failure to meet the medal target he had set. [12] This was despite a reasonably favourable reaction to Britain's achievement of six medals and the desire of UK Athletics that he should remain in the post. [13] Van Commenee was succeeded by Peter Eriksson, who served only seven months of a five-year contract before resigning for personal reasons. UKA Performance Director Neil Black was appointed temporary replacement. [14] A restructuring announced in December 2013 saw the single role of head coach replaced by three heads of department (endurance, sprints and field events). [15]
The athletes compete in Olympic competition under the brand name of Team GB.
The current CEO is Jack Buckner [16] and the Chair is Ian Beattie. [17] Denise Lewis was elected as the organisation's president in December 2023, succeeding Jason Gardener, [1] but stepped down temporarily from the post in February 2024. [18] Lewis resumed the presidency of UK Athletics in August 2024 after leaving her role as a BBC pundit. [19]
Dwain Anthony Chambers is a British track sprinter. He has won international medals at World and European levels and is one of the fastest European sprinters in the history of athletics. His primary event is the 100 metres, with a best of 9.97 seconds, which ranks him equal 9th on the British all-time list. He is the former European record holder for the 60 metres and 4×100 metres relay events with 6.42 seconds and 37.73 s respectively.
Dame Denise Rosemarie Lewis is a British sports administrator and former sports presenter and athletics athlete, who specialised in the heptathlon.
Dame Kelly Holmes is a retired British middle distance athlete, TV presenter and television personality.
David Robert Moorcroft is a former middle-distance and long-distance runner from England, and former world record holder for 5,000 metres. His athletic career spanned the late-1970s and 1980s. He subsequently served as the Chief Executive of UK Athletics from 1997 to 2007. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1983 and promoted to an Officer (OBE) in 1999, in both cases for services to athletics. In March 2023, he was appointed a Deputy lieutenant of the West Midlands.
Yamilé Aldama Pozo is a Cuban-born triple jumper. She represented Cuba until 2003, Sudan from 2004 to 2010, then Great Britain from 2011 onwards. A four-time Olympian (2000–12), she won a silver medal at the 1999 World Championships and a gold medal at the 2012 World Indoor Championships.
Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill is a British retired athlete, specialising in the heptathlon and 100 metres hurdles. As a competitor in heptathlon, she is the 2012 Olympic champion, a three-time world champion, and the 2010 European champion. She is also the 2010 World Indoor pentathlon champion. A member of the City of Sheffield & Dearne athletic club, she is a former British national record holder for the heptathlon. She is also a former British record holder in the 100 metres hurdles, the high jump and the indoor pentathlon.
Sir Mohamed Muktar Jama Farah is a Somali-British former long-distance runner. Considered one of the greatest runners of all time, his ten global championship gold medals make him the most successful male track distance runner in the history of the sport, and he is the most successful British track athlete in modern Olympic Games history.
The Amateur Athletic Association of England or AAA is the oldest national governing body for athletics in the world, having been established on 24 April 1880. Historically it effectively oversaw athletics throughout Britain and Ireland. Its role changed to support regional athletic clubs within England alone. This role was effectively taken over by England Athletics in 2005 and the Amateur Athletic Association of England was absorbed into that organisation. It is now concerned with the development of young athletes and has taken on the role of safeguarding the history of the sport and still awards trophies to elite athletes.
Steven ("Steve") James Lewis is an English pole vaulter. His personal best jump of 5.82 metres, set in July 2012, is the former British record for the event. Indoors his best is 5.77 m, achieved in Dessau on 2 March 2012.
Charles van Commenee, written in Dutch as van Commenée, is a Dutch athletics coach. He began his professional career as a technical director with the Dutch athletics federation before moving to take up a similar role for the British athletics team in 2001. After a term as Performance Director for the Dutch Olympic Committee, he served as Head Coach of British Athletics from 2008 to 2012. Additionally, he has personally coached athletes to international medals, including Denise Lewis, Kelly Sotherton and Huang Zhihong.
Shara Proctor is a British former long jumper born in Anguilla. She is the national record holder of both Anguilla and Great Britain. On 28 August 2015 at the World Championships in Beijing she became the first British, female, long-jumper to jump over 7 metres (7.07), setting a new British record and earning a world championship silver medal in the process. She also won the 2013 IAAF Diamond League in the event. Her younger sister is the Anguillan sprinter Shinelle Proctor.
William "Will" Sharman is a British athlete who specialises in the 110 metres hurdles. He started his career as a junior high jumper and decathlete, but focused entirely on hurdling after a shoulder injury. He made his international debut for Great Britain at the 2006 European Athletics Championships and went on to compete at the 2007 Summer Universiade. Sharman came to prominence in 2009, after he significantly improved upon his previous personal best and finished fourth in the 110 metres hurdles final at the 2009 World Championships. This would be the first of three consecutive appearances in the World Championship final, he's since finished fifth in both the 2011 and 2013 finals.
Jodie Alicia Williams is a retired British sprinter who specialised in the 400 metres, having begun her career concentrating on 100 and 200 metres.
The United Kingdom competed under the name Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The nation was represented by 72 athletes at the 2010 European Athletics Championships held in Barcelona, Spain.
Peter Eriksson is an athletics coach and formerly the head coach of the Olympic and Paralympic programs for both British Athletics and Athletics Canada. Eriksson has over 30 years of coaching experience in speed skating and track and field; and has led Canada to record medal performances in the 2016 Olympic Games, 2015 World Championships and 2014 Commonwealth Games. Under his leadership as performance director and head coach, the nations that he has worked with has generated over 240 medals at major International Competitions.
Tiffany Adaeze Porter is a track and field athlete with joint British and American nationality who specialises in the 100 metres hurdles. She represented the United States as a junior, but began representing Great Britain in 2010 on joining the senior ranks after moving to England and competed for Great Britain at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Katarina Mary Johnson-Thompson is an English athlete. A multi-eventer, she is primarily known as both a heptathlete and an indoor pentathlete. In heptathlon she is a double world champion, double Commonwealth Games champion and an Olympic silver medallist. In indoor pentathlon, she is a world and double European champion.
Hannah Lucy Cockroft is a British wheelchair racer specialising in sprint distances in the T34 classification and TV presenter.
Sarah Holt is a British athlete who specializes in the hammer throw, her personal best is 68.97m. She was born in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom. Holt has represented Great Britain Athletics Team consistently since 2006. She began athletics at the age of 12, competing for Spenborough and District Athletics Club. She then went on to compete for Sale Harriers Manchester, her current club. Career highlights include European U23 bronze medallist (2009), Double England Champion and Commonwealth Games representative (2010). Holt attended Whitcliffe Mount School in Cleckheaton. where she had academic success, achieving straight A grades at A-Level. Her academics continued at Loughborough University where she gained a BSc in Geography and Sport science (2:1).
Shannon Hylton is an English sprinter. She represented Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the 2017 World Championships. She narrowly missed qualifying for the semifinals.