The 1886 AAA Championships was an outdoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA), held on Saturday 3 July at Stamford Bridge, London, England.Ian Buchanan "AAA Championships 1880-1939" National Union of Track Statisticians (2003)
Summary Competitions took place in magnificent, almost tropical, weather, that was, if anything, too hot for athletes in the longer events."Glasgow Evening Post", Sat 3 July 1886 p. 3"The Referee", Sun 4 July 1886 p. 5 The attendance was lower than on previous occasions with not more than two thousand spectators inside the ground when competition commenced at three o'clock in the afternoon."Field", Sat 10 Jul 1886 p. 21 The band of the 4th Middlesex Regiment entertained spectators between events and the prizes were presented by Mrs Montague Shearman, wife of the President of the AAAs and the 440 yards champion in 1880."Nottingham Journal", Mon 5 Jul 1886 p. 8
The fourteen events on the programme were for men only, with heats and finals all held on the same day, with the exception of the 10 miles race, which was held on the following Monday, 5 July, at the same venue. The programme was changed slightly, placing the 880 yard final first in the order of events to separate it as much as possible from the 1 mile. In subsequent years they swapped the 880 yards and 1 mile over, to make the 1 mile as far as possible from the 4 miles.
There were no heats in the field events, some of which had only two or three competitors, and the only track event in which heats were necessary was the 100 yards. It was customary at the time for race winners only to have their performances recorded, therefore, in the tables below other competitors are shown with the distance each man was behind the man in front. Field event performances are shown in feet and inches as they were originally measured, with a conversion to metric measurement in parentheses. Conversions have been obtained using the International Metric Conversion Tables published by the International Amateur Athletics Federation in 1970.
The only competitor from outside of Great Britain was Peter James from Sydney, who competed without distinction in the 100 yards. He was the first Australian competitor since Bernhard Wise won the mile in 1881. The first Australian athletic championship was held at Moore Park, Sydney, in May 1890. Australian Athletics - Results and Statistics
The editor of a Dublin newspaper, The Sport, sponsored a "team" of three athletes from Ireland to come to the championship, paying their travel and accommodation expenses for their stay at the Bedford Head Hotel in Tottenham Court Road, London. Irish athletes had won three events at the championship in 1885 and they were looking to repeat their success."Freeman's Journal", Sat 3 July 1886 p. 7
Only four 1885 champions returned to defend their titles. Charles Daft (Notts Forest FC) the 120 yard hurdles title, James Jervis (Liverpool H.) defended the 7 miles walk, John Purcell (Dublin AC) the long jump, and Thomas Ray (Ulverston AC) the pole jump. Walter George and William Snook, both of Moseley Harriers, who had between them won eighteen championships at distances from 880 yards to 10 miles, had both turned professional and the opportunity this presented caused entries to rise in many events, with over seventy entries from thirty-six different clubs."Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper", Sun 4 Jul 1886 p. 1
Two world records were equalled during the afternoon and championship best performances were set in four different events. Arthur Wharton (Cleveland Coll.), ran ten seconds for the 100 yards in both heat and final to erase all previous doubtful marks at the distance from the record books.Richard Hymans "World Record Progressions" International Amateur Athletics Federation (2015) Wharton had beaten James Cowie, the reigning champion, at Widnes on 5 June and so was not a completely unknown athlete, but with Cowie injured and unable to defend his crown the missionary student from Jamestown in Ghana exceeded all expectations and won convincingly by a clear yard. In the process he also became the first black athlete to win a AAA Championship title at any event."Sporting Life", Sat 3 July 1886 p. 2
Charles Daft (Notts Forest FC) equalled the world record of 16 seconds in the 120 yard hurdles to retain the title he had won last year, and give Notts Forest Football Club their third consecutive win, making them the most successful club at this event so far.
Championship best marks were also set by Charles Wood (Blackheath H.) in the 440 yards, who became the first British amateur to break 50 seconds for the distance, and by James Mitchel (Gaelic AA), from Emly, County Tipperary in Ireland, in winning the hammer.
Thomas Ray (Ulverston AC) won the pole jump for the sixth time, the last three of them on consecutive occasions.
Results
Event1st2nd3rd100 yards Arthur Wharton Charles George Wood Frank T. Ritchie440 yardsCharles George WoodW. Lyle-SmithErnest Durrant Robinson880 yardsErnest Durrant RobinsonFrancis Stuart Howard H. Haines 1 mileThomas Benwell NalderFrancis John Kynaston CrossThomas Radford Bryden4 milesCharles RogersC. H. L. Clarke C. A. Morgan10 milesWilliam Henry Coad Alex P. Findlay A. G. ArnoldsteeplechaseM. A. HarrisonWilliam DudmanArthur Painter 120yd hurdlesCharles Frederick DaftSherard JoyceGodfrey Barnsley Shaw 7 miles walkJoseph Howard JullieWilliam Wheeler C. W. V. Clarke high jumpGeorge William RowdonSidney Octavius PurvesAlfred Edward Nuttall pole jumpThomas RayF. G. F. Thompsonn/along jump John Purcell Ernest W. Horwood J. Barbour shot put James MitchelF. G. F. Thompsonn/ahammer throw James Mitchel John D. Gruer n/a
Event summary 100 yards + 100 yards Pos Athlete Club Time / Dist 1. Arthur Wharton Cleveland Coll., Darlington 10 secs. 2. Charles George Wood Blackheath H. 1 yd 3. Frank T. Ritchie Bradford FC 1 ft 4. John D. Bassett South Norwood AC 5. R. F. Shaw Hereford FC Notes: 3 heats. first 2 in the two fastest heats and one man from the slowest heat qualify for the final.
James Cowie (London AC) had won the 100 yards championship for the three previous years but wrote an open letter to Sporting Life to apologise to his many fans that he would be unable to defend his title this year due to an injury. This left just two men in the first of three heats from which five men qualified for the final, to be run at three forty-five. Arthur Wharton, a student at Cleveland College in Darlington, caused a sensation by winning heat 3 in 10 seconds flat. The record at 100 yards had been in doubt for several years with many more or less dubious claims to have run ten seconds. Wharton was the first man to do it under championship conditions where there can be no doubt that all of the rules had been complied with, that the officials were fully competent and experienced men, that the time had been recorded on three accurate watches, and that neither the track nor the wind were offering any assistance. In the final, forty-five minutes later, Wharton got away well and after covering 70 yards was two yards clear of the field. In the closing stages Charles Wood (Blackheath H.) narrowed the gap but Wharton reproduced his marvellous time and won by a clear yard."Sporting Life", Mon 5 Jul 1886 p. 3
Quarter–mile + Quarter–mile Pos Athlete Club Time / Dist 1. Charles George Wood Blackheath H. 49 4/5 2. W. Lyle-Smith South London H. 3 yd 3. Ernest Durrant Robinson South London H. 3 yd 4. W. Lock Spartan H. 5. C. N. Jones South London H. Notes: no heats. only 5 finished.
Forty minutes after contesting the final of the 100 yards both Charles Wood (Blackheath H.) and Arthur Wharton (Cleveland Coll.) lined up for the heats of the quarter mile, but only six of the eleven entries reported and it was decided to hold it as a straight final, giving them a further two hours to recover from their exertions. Wood, from Dereham in Norfolk, had finished second to James Cowie in 1884 and was thought to be the man to beat, but W. Lyle-Smith (Civil Service FC) who had won the Civil Service sports in convincing style, Arthur Wharton, the 100 yards champion, and Ernest Robinson (South London H.) the 880 yards champion, also lined up to contest the event at five to six in the evening."Eastern Evening News", Mon 5 Jul 1886 p. 4 Wood went off the quickest, followed closely by Wharton with Lyle-Smith third and Robinson fourth. At half way Wood increased his lead over Wharton and both Lyle-Smith and Robinson overtook the 100 yards champion who stopped running just before reaching 300 yards. Lyle-Smith and Robinson fought each other and in doing so began to close the gap on Wood but could get no closer than three yards. Wood was the first British amateur to break 50 seconds and all five finishers beat 52 seconds."Sheffield Independent", Mon 5 Jul 1886 p. 2"Field", Sat 10 Jul 1886 p. 50
Half–mile +half–mile Pos Athlete Club Time / Dist 1. Ernest Durrant Robinson South London H. 1:59 2. Francis Stuart Howard South London H. 1:59 1/2 3. H. Haines Faringdon, Berks. 10 yd 4. J. A. P. Clarke London AC 5. A. Bessell Highgate H. Notes: only 5 competitors
The half-mile was the first event on the programme, with just five men facing the starter. H. Haines from Faringdon in Berkshire took the lead from the gun closely followed by Ernest Robinson (South London H.), the favourite, with Francis Howard also of South London H. in close attendance on his club mate. Approaching the bell Robinson went to the front and opened up a gap and Howard passed Haines for second place. They remained in that order to the line with Robinson doing enough to stay comfortably ahead and won by three yards just inside two minutes while Haines fell off the pace. splits, 440 yards: 55.4, 1:59 (63.6).
1 mile + 1 mile Pos Athlete Club Time / Dist 1. Thomas Benwell Nalder Knowle CC, Bristol 4:25.8 2. Francis John Kynaston Cross Oxford Un. AC 15 yd 3. Thomas Radford Bryden Clapham Rovers FC 2 yd 4. H. C. Mabey South London H. 10 yd 5. William Pollock-Hill South London H. 4:31 6? E. Leaver South London H. Notes: Cross, Bryden and Mabey beat standard time of 4:30