Scottish Athletics Championships

Sport	Track and field
Founded	1883
Country	Scotland

The Scottish Athletics Championships is an annual outdoor track and field competition organised by Scottish Athletics that serves as the Scottish national championship for the sport. The competition is usually held over two days in June, with the 10,000 metres and combined event championships being held separately. The event was first held, for men only, in 1883, when they were organised by the Scottish Amateur Athletics Association. Women's championships started in 1931. In 1992 the three organising bodies for the sport in Scotland merged to form the Scottish Athletics Federation, and they organised the championships until 2001 when they were superseded by Scottish Athletics.

Evolution of events

At the first championship there were twelve individual events for men only: 100 yards, 440 yards, 880 yards, 1 mile, 120 yard hurdles, 3 miles walk, high jump, pole vault, long jump, shot put, hammer, and throwing the cricket ball. This last event was never held again so the winning throw in 1883 of 322 ft 5in (98.26m) is still the championship best performance. The 10 miles track race and cross country championships were both introduced in 1886, and in 1887 the 4 miles was included for the first time. The 220 yards was added in 1892 and in 1919, in line with the AAA championship, the one mile medley relay was introduced. In 1921 two events more familiar from Highland Games were first held, throwing the 56 lb weight, and throwing the Scots style hammer. These events were last held in 1947 and 1948 respectively. In 1923 the 7 miles walk was introduced to the championship and in 1925 the discus and javelin were first held. In 1931 women's championships started and in 1934 the 4 miles was dropped and replaced with 3 miles and 6 miles events. 1934 also saw the introduction of the 2 miles steeplechase. The triple jump was added to the programme in 1937. The marathon was first held in 1946, the 440 yard hurdles in 1947, and the 4 x 110 yards relay in 1948. In 1953 the 4 x 440 yards relay was first held, the 3,000 metre steeplechase replaced the 2 miles event in 1955 and in 1960 the Scottish national decathlon championship was held for the first time.

Andrew Hannah set multiple Scottish records at distances from 2 miles to 10 miles

Women's championships started in 1931 with eight individual events and two relays: 100 yards, 220 yards, 440 yards, 880 yards, 100 yards hurdles, high jump, long jump, shot put, 4 x 110 yards relay, and 1 mile medley relay. In 1932 the distance for the hurdles was changed to 80 yards, and in 1937 this was changed to 80 metres and the event was last held in 1968. In 1932 they added the javelin, 1935 saw the addition of a 1-mile walk, and the discus was added in 1936. In 1952 the longest race for women was increased to 1 mile, and the pentathlon was added in 1959, becoming the heptathlon in 1981. In 1966 a 4 x 220 yards relay was added to the programme, which became 4 x 200 metres relay in 1969 and was last held in 1973. That same year, 1973, they added the 400 metre hurdles, and in 1974 women competed for a 4 x 400 metres relay championship for the first time. Following the debut of the women's marathon at the summer Olympics in 1984, Scottish Athletics added the 10,000 metres to their championships in 1985, and in 1989 they added a 3 x 800 metres relay. In 1990 the triple jump was trialled and became a championship event in 1991, then in 1992 the hammer was tried on the same basis and became a championship event from 1993. Women's pole vault was included for the first time in 1994, and the following year the 3000 metres was replaced with a 5000-metre championship. A 2000-metre steeplechase was tried twice, in 2003 and 2004, then in 2007 it became a 3000-metre steeplechase championship. The men's and women's programmes are now the same, with the exception of the distance of the sprint hurdles and the combined events, where women compete for a heptathlon title whilst the men have a decathlon championship.

In line with the rest of the world Scottish athletics championships went metric in 1969, with the exception of the women's 1 mile medley relay which became a 1600 metres medley relay in 1970.^{[1][2][3] [4]}

Alfred Downer (1873-1912) Scottish champion at 100 yards, 220 yards and 440 yards three years in succession.

current event list 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, 5000m, 10,000m, 100mH (women only), 110mH (men only), 400mH, 3000mSt, high jump, pole vault, long jump, triple jump, shot put, discus, hammer, javelin, heptathlon (women only), decathlon (men only), 4 × 100 m relay, 4 × 400 m relay, 3 x 800m relay.

Hugh Welsh (20 Sep 1876) won Scottish AAA half-mile and 1 mile in 1896, 97, 99, and in 1898 and 1899 won both the half-mile and mile in the international against Ireland.

William E. Callender, of Watson's College, Edinburgh, Scottish 100 yards and 220 yards champion in 1899.

Championship bests

Dates and venues

For a number of years there had been a disagreement in Scottish athletics over whether professional cycle racing events should be allowed at amateur athletics meetings. There were strong views both in favour and against the position, and arriving at a deadlock in their negotiations several western district clubs in favour of allowing professional cycle events, led by Clydesdale Harriers, seceded from the SAAA and formed the Scottish Amateur Athletics Union (SAAU). The consequence of this was that there were two national championships in both 1895 and 1896 held under the auspices of the two separate bodies. In both years the two championships were held on the same day, with the SAAA adhering to their policy of alternating between an Eastern and a Western venue, while the SAAU held their championship at Hampden Park, Glasgow on both occasions.

References