The British West Indies Championships was an annual track and field competition between nations involved in the West Indies Federation and several other Caribbean nations with a British colonial history. Like the federation itself, the competition was short-lived: first held in 1957, it ceased after 1965. The competition was created at a time of much sporting co-operation within the region – a British West Indies team was sent to both the 1959 Pan American Games and the 1960 Summer Olympics.British West Indies Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2015-03-21.
The first event in 1957, held in Kingston, Jamaica, was supported by retired Olympic sprint medallist Herb McKenley.Bahamas Track Men Seek Team Berths. The Miami News (1957-07-21). Retrieved on 2015-03-21. The national championships of the host nation was sometimes replaced by the regional championships.Trinidad & Tobago National Championships. NAAATT. Retrieved on 2015-03-21.
The championships featured prominent Caribbean men's sprinters of the period, including Commonwealth champion Tom Robinson, and Jamaican Olympic medallists Lennox Miller, George Kerr and Malcolm Spence. Other prominent champions of this event were hurdler Keith Gardner and high jumper Ernle Haisley (both Commonwealth champions). Women were not invited to the first two editions of the competition, but a women's programme was introduced from 1959 onwards.
Editions Ed.YearCityCountryDatesNo. ofeventsNo. ofnationsNo. ofathletesWinning nation1st1957KingstonJamaica182nd1958Port of SpainTrinidad and Tobago183rd1959GeorgetownBritish Guiana274th1960KingstonJamaica315th1964KingstonJamaica256th1965BridgetownBarbados28
Participating nations
References