The WAAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Women's Amateur Athletic Association (WAAA) in England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event for women during its lifetime.
Since 1880, the Amateur Athletic Association of England had held the AAA Championships, but it admitted men only and did not wish to include women.AAA Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2018-04-04. Women's clubs and competitions were typically separate from the men's and in line with growing interest in the sport the WAAA was founded in 1922.About Athletics. Sheffield Hallam University. Retrieved 2018-04-04. Several contests in the country were approved by the WAAA with "Championships of England" status that year, and this was subsequently replaced with an organised WAAA Championships in 1923.AAA Championships (Women). GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2018-04-04. Aside from the 1927 championships in Reading, Berkshire, the WAAA track and field event was based at various locations in London up to 1939.WAAA Championships (1923-1939). GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2018-04-04. The competition was interrupted by World War II but was re-instigated in 1945 and remained in London until a move to Birmingham in 1985.British Athletics Championships 1945-1959. GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2018-04-04.
As women's athletics developed in the 20th century, major international men's and women's events typically were held in conjunction, with women first appearing on the Olympic athletics programme in 1928 and the European Athletics Championships being fully combined by its third edition in 1946.Olympic Games (Women). GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2018-04-04.European Championships (Women). GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2018-04-04. The AAA and WAAA events remained divided for much longer and it was not until 1988 that the women's events were merged into an all-gender AAA Championships in 1988, though the WAAA remained the organiser of the women's events. This change came during a period of reform that would see the sport fully professionalise and, in the UK, organisation move to national level.
The establishment of UK Athletics in 1999 to serve as the national governing body for professional, elite athletics ultimately started the decline of the AAA Championships. UK Athletics took over the role of both national championships and international team selection with its own British Athletics Championships from 2007 onwards.AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists. National Union of Track and Field Statisticians. Retrieved 2018-04-04.
The long-distance track events, marathon, racewalking events and combined track and field events were regularly held outside of the main track and field championship competition.
Events The following athletics events featured as standard on the main WAAA Championships programme:
100 metres, 200 metres, 400 metres, 800 metres, 1500 metres, 3000 metres (until 1999) 5000 metres, 100 metres hurdles, 400 metres hurdles, 3000 metres steeplechase, long jump, triple jump, high jump, pole vault, shot put, discus, hammer and javelin.
The following events were regularly held, but often outside of the main programme:
10,000 metres, pentathlon/heptathlon, 5000 metres walk, 10,000 metres walk and marathon
Races were contested, and field events measured, in yards and feet up until 1968. The 2000 metres steeplechase was held in 2002 and 2003 before moving to the standard 3000 m distance. The 80 metres hurdles was contested until 1968 before being replaced by the new international standard 100 metres hurdles. The 200 metres hurdles was on the programme from 1961 to 1972, before being dropped in favour of the 400 metres hurdles. A 60 metres event was available from 1935 to 1950. A women's mile run was first contested in 1936, indicating a growing acceptance to women taking part in distance events. The 3000 metres was introduced in 1968 and lasted until 1999. The standard 5000 metres and 10,000 metres events came after, being first held in 1980 as non-championship events before achieving full status.
The field events expanded roughly in line with international changes. The triple jump first appeared in 1989, followed by championship events in pole vault and hammer throw in 1993, bringing women to parity with men in field events. A women's pentathlon (first held in 1949) was replaced with a heptathlon in 1981.
Racewalking events underwent progressive change in distance, from 880 yards (1923–1927), to one mile (1928–1932), rounded down to 1600 m in 1933 to 1939, back to one mile (1945–1958), up to 1.5 miles (1960–68), then 2500 m (1969–1972), 3000 m in 1973 and 1974, before finally reaching the 5000 m distance in 1975. A 10,000 m walk was introduced in 1978. A variety of relay races were contested by clubs prior to 1960.
Editions # Year Date Venue Stadium Notes/ref — 1922 n/a Various Various Championships status provided to several events 1 1923 18 August London Bromley, Oxo Sports Ground 2 1924 28 June London Woolwich Stadium, Woolwich Common Discus added 3 1925 11 July London Stamford Bridge 4 1926 19 June London Stamford Bridge 5 1927 9 July Reading Palmer Park 6 1928 14 July London Stamford Bridge Single handed javelin introduced 7 1929 13 July London Stamford Bridge 8 1930 16 August London Stamford Bridge single hand shot introduced 9 1931 11 July London Stamford Bridge 10 1932 9 July London Stamford Bridge 11 1933 15 July London White City Stadium 12 1934 30 June London Herne Hill Athletics Ground 13 1935 10 August London White City Stadium 60 metres sprint introduced 14 1936 18 July London White City Stadium 1 mile introduced 15 1937 7 August London White City Stadium 16 1938 2 July London White City Stadium 17 1939 22 July London White City Stadium Not held 1940 to 1944 due to World War II 18 1945 18 August London Tooting Bec Athletics Track 19 1946 13 July London White City Stadium 20 1947 2 August London Polytechnic Stadium 21 1948 26 June London Polytechnic Stadium 22 1949 9 July London White City Stadium Pentathlon introduced 23 1950 8 July London White City Stadium 24 1951 7 July London White City Stadium 60 metres discontinued 25 1952 14 June London White City Stadium 26 1953 4 July London White City Stadium 27 1954 19 June London White City Stadium 28 1955 2 July London White City Stadium 29 1956 11 August London White City Stadium 30 1957 5–6 July London White City Stadium Held over 2 days for the first time 31 1958 7 June London Motspur Park 32 1959 4 July London Motspur Park 33 1960 1–2 July London White City Stadium 34 1961 8 July London White City Stadium 200 metres hurdles introduced 35 1962 7 July London White City Stadium 36 1963 6 July London White City Stadium 100 metres hurdles introduced over a height of 2'6" 37 1964 4 July London White City Stadium 38 1965 3 July London White City Stadium 39 1966 1–2 July London White City Stadium 40 1967 30 June–1 July London White City Stadium Last event at White City, 100m hurdle height increased to 2'9" 41 1968 19–20 July London Crystal Palace National Sports Centre Imperial distances replaced with metric distances, 3,000m introduced 42 1969 18–19 July London Crystal Palace National Sports Centre 80 metres hurdles discontinued 43 1970 19–20 June London Crystal Palace National Sports Centre 44 1971 16–17 July London Crystal Palace National Sports Centre 45 1972 7–8 July London Crystal Palace National Sports Centre 46 1973 20–21 July London Crystal Palace National Sports Centre 200 metres hurdles increased to 400 metres hurdles, 2,500 metres walk increased to 3,000 metres 47 1974 19–20 July London Crystal Palace National Sports Centre 48 1975 18–19 July London Crystal Palace National Sports Centre 3,000m walk increased to 5,000m 49 1976 20–21 August London Crystal Palace National Sports Centre 50 1977 19–20 August London Crystal Palace National Sports Centre 51 1978 18–19 August London Crystal Palace National Sports Centre Marathon and 10,000 metres walk introduced 52 1979 27–28 July London Crystal Palace National Sports Centre 53 1980 15–16 August London Crystal Palace National Sports Centre 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres introduced 54 1981 24–25 July London Crystal Palace National Sports Centre 55 1982 30–31 July London Crystal Palace National Sports Centre 56 1983 29–30 July London Crystal Palace National Sports Centre 57 1984 15–16 June London Crystal Palace National Sports Centre 58 1985 26–27 July Birmingham Alexander Stadium 59 1986 6–7 June Birmingham Alexander Stadium 60 1987 24–25 July Birmingham Alexander Stadium — 1988 5–7 August Birmingham Alexander Stadium Olympic trials — 1989 11–13 August Birmingham Alexander Stadium Triple jump introduced — 1990 3–4 August Birmingham Alexander Stadium — 1991 26–27 July Birmingham Alexander Stadium Hammer throw introduced — 1992 27–28 July Birmingham Alexander Stadium Olympic trials — 1993 16–17 July Birmingham Alexander Stadium Pole vault introduced — 1994 11–12 July Sheffield Don Valley Stadium — 1995 15–16 July Birmingham Alexander Stadium — 1996 14–16 July Birmingham Alexander Stadium Olympic trials — 1997 24–25 July Birmingham Alexander Stadium — 1998 24–26 July Birmingham Alexander Stadium — 1999 23–25 July Birmingham Alexander Stadium New javelin model introduced — 2000 11–13 July Birmingham Alexander Stadium Olympic trials — 2001 13–15 July Birmingham Alexander Stadium — 2002 12–14 July Birmingham Alexander Stadium Steeplechase introduced — 2003 25–27 July Birmingham Alexander Stadium — 2004 10–11 July Manchester Sportcity Olympic trials — 2005 9–10 July Manchester Sportcity — 2006 15–16 July Manchester Sportcity
Most successful athletes by event EventWomenWomen's titles100 metresJoice Maduaka5200 metresKathy Smallwood-Cook6400 metresJoslyn Hoyte-SmithLinda Keough3800 metresKelly Holmes71500 metresHayley Tullett43000 metresYvonne Murray45000 metresHayley Yelling310,000 metresHayley Yelling33000 m steeplechaseTina Brown2100 m hurdlesSally Gunnell7200 m hurdlesPat NuttingPat Jones3400 m hurdlesGowry Retchakan5High jumpDorothy Tyler8Pole vaultJanine Whitlock6Long jumpEthel Raby6Triple jumpMichelle Griffith5Shot putJudy Oakes17Discus throwSuzanne Allday7Hammer throwLorraine Shaw6Javelin throwTessa Sanderson10Combined eventsMary Peters83000/5000 m race walkBetty Sworowski410,000 m race walkIrene BatemanHelen EllekerBetty SworowskiVicky Lupton3
References
Editions WAAA Championships. Power of 10. Retrieved 2018-04-04.