Grand Prix

Grand Prix (French pronunciation: ​[ɡʁɑ̃pʁi], meaning Grand Prize; plural Grands Prix) may refer to:

Sports competitions

British Grand Prix

The British Grand Prix is a race in the calendar of the FIA Formula One World Championship. It is currently held at the Silverstone Circuit near the village of Silverstone in Northamptonshire in England. The British and Italian Grands Prix are the oldest continuously staged Formula One World Championship Grands Prix. It was designated the European Grand Prix five times between 1950 and 1977, when this title was an honorary designation given each year to one Grand Prix race in Europe. All British Grands Prix dating back to 1926 have been held in England; where the British motor racing industry is primarily located.

History

Origins

Brooklands (1926–1927)

The concrete Brooklands oval was built in 1907 near Weybridge in Surrey, located just outside the British capital of London. It was the first purpose-built motor racing venue, as well as one of the first airfields in the United Kingdom. Grand Prix motor racing was first established in Britain by Henry Segrave in 1926 after his winning of the 1923 French Grand Prix and the San Sebastián Grand Prix the following year, which raised interest in the sport. The first ever British Grand Prix was won by the French team of Louis Wagner and Robert Sénéchal driving a Delage 155B. The second British Grand Prix was held at Brooklands in 1927.

UK Athletics

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. UK Athletics introduced the British Athletics brand in 2013 to act as the identity for athletics in the United Kingdom, while UK Athletics continue in the role of governance.

It has four member organisations, one from each of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom: England Athletics, Scottishathletics, Welsh Athletics, and Athletics Northern Ireland.

History

UK Athletics was founded in 1999 as a successor to the British Athletics Federation, which had collapsed for financial reasons. Prominent among the reasons was the cost of the legal bills in the Diane Modahl contract dispute case.

Former long distance runner David Moorcroft, previously Chief Executive of the British Athletics Federation, continued in the same role at the newly formed UKA. 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. Moorcroft's departure triggered a restructuring of the organisation and the creation of the role of chairman, to which businessman Ed Warner was appointed. The current chief executive is Niels de Vos.Lynn Davies, the former Olympic champion long jumper, is the incumbent president.

Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix

The Sainsbury's Indoor Grand Prix, formerly known as Aviva Grand Prix, is an annual indoor track and field competition which is held in mid-February at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, England. It is one of a handful of events to hold IAAF Indoor Permit Meetings status. As one of the later major meetings of the indoor athletics season, it often serves as preparation for the biennial European Athletics Indoor Championships and IAAF World Indoor Championships. The meeting is directed by former athlete Ian Stewart and attracts numerous high calibre athletes including World and Olympic medallists.

The event is one of three indoor athletics competitions in the United Kingdom which are sponsored by Sainsbury's, alongside the Sainsbury's UK Indoor Championships and the Sainsbury's International Match in Glasgow. The Sainsbury's Indoor Grand Prix was previously known as the Norwich Union Indoor Grand Prix prior to the sponsor's rebranding as Aviva in 2009.

In 2016 the Grand Prix meeting will be staged at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow for the very first time, following its move from Birmingham.

Great Britain

Great Britain, also known as Britain ⁱ/ˈbrɪ.tən/, is an island in the North Atlantic off the north-west coast of continental Europe. With an area of 209,331 km² (80,823 sq mi), it is the largest island in Europe and the ninth-largest in the world. In 2011 the island had a population of about 61 million people, making it the third-most populous island in the world, after Java in Indonesia and Honshu in Japan. It accounts for the majority of the British Isles archipelago, along with over 1,000 smaller surrounding islands, including the island of Ireland to its west.

The island is part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, constituting most of its territory: most of England, Scotland, and Wales are on the island, with their respective capital cities, London, Edinburgh, and Cardiff. Politically, the term Great Britain usually extends to include surrounding islands that form part of England, Scotland, and Wales.

A single Kingdom of Great Britain resulted from the Union of Scotland and England (which already comprised the present-day countries of England and Wales) in 1707. More than a hundred years before, in 1603, King James VI, King of Scots, had inherited the throne of England, but it was not until 1707 that the Parliaments of the two countries agreed to form a unified state. Subsequently, in 1801, Great Britain united with the neighbouring Kingdom of Ireland, forming the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The state was renamed the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" after five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom in 1922.