Athletics

Athletics may refer to:

See also

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.

British Athletics Championships

The Amateur Athletics Association (of England) Championships or AAAs Championships, were widely considered to be the British Athletics Championships, even though the corporation did not include Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The event was open to all UK athletes and (with the exception of a few years) to overseas athletes as well. The AAAs was founded in 1880, (1922 for women) and incorporated the UK Olympic trials in 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004. The 2006 AAAs Championships were the last to be the de facto British Championships, when they were incorporated into the 2006 UK Championships (and trials).

In 1977, a separate event, the UK National Championships was created. The UK Championships was a closed competition limited to British athletes only. The UK Championships incorporated the UK Olympic trials in 1980. The importance of the meeting declined, due to the AAAs Championships remaining the premier domestic event and also because they were usually held in May. In 1993, the event was renamed the British Championships. There was no event in 1994-96. The event was briefly resurrected in 1997 and incorporated the World Championships trials, before being discontinued.

European Team Championships

The European Team Championships is an athletics competition, between different countries of Europe, over 4 leagues. It is the successor of the former Europa Cup.

History

The main idea of the cup, developed by Bruno Zauli, president of the European Committee of the International Association of Athletics Federations, was to create a competition for all European athletics federations, in which they would face each other in track and field events. Although Zauli died just a few months before the launch of the first event, the competition has gone from strength to strength.

In 2008, it was decided to change the competition and for it to take a new format with four leagues, which consist of 20 events for men and 20 for women. The Super League and the First League have 12 teams each, while the Second League and the Third League 8 and 14 respectively. Team scores will be calculated by combination of men and women's points, rather than the previous individual male and female scores. Each year, three teams are relegated from the Super League and are replaced by three teams promoted from the First League. Two teams are relegated/promoted among First, Second and Third League teams.

European Athletic Association

The European Athletic Association (more commonly known as European Athletics) is the governing body for athletics in Europe. It is one of the six Area Associations of the world's athletics governing body, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). European Athletics has 51 members and is headquartered in Lausanne. Svein Arne Hansen is its current president.

Originally created in 1932 as a European Committee, it was made into an independent body during the Bucharest conference of 1969. The first European Athletics congress took place in Paris on 6–8 October 1970, with Dutchman Adriaan Paulen elected as its first president. From a volunteer-led organization based in the acting Secretary's home country, European Athletics has developed into a professional organization with a permanent base in Switzerland.

European Athletics runs and regulates several championships and meetings across Europe - both indoor and outdoor.

History

After the foundation of the International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF) in 1912, it was clear there needed to be a European committee as part of the governing board. While the idea originally met with some resistance, it was the active promotion by the Hungarian representative Szilard Stankovits that bought the initiative to life following the Los Angeles congress of the IAAF in 1932. Following this meeting, the Council officially designated a European Commission (chaired by Stankovits) with the task of reviewing the conditions for the organisation of the European Athletics Championships.