1986 UK Athletics Championships
Host city	Cwmbran, Wales
Venue	Cwmbran Stadium
Level	Senior
Type	Outdoor
← 1985 1987 → UK Athletics Championships

The 1986 UK Athletics Championships was the national championship in outdoor track and field for the United Kingdom held at Cwmbran Stadium, Cwmbran. It was the fourth time the event was held in the Welsh town. The women's 5000 metres was dropped from the programme and replaced by a women's 10,000 metres event.

It was the tenth edition of the competition limited to British athletes only, launched as an alternative to the AAA Championships, which was open to foreign competitors. However, because the calibre of national competition remained greater at the AAA event, the UK Championships this year were not considered the principal national championship event by some statisticians, such as the National Union of Track Statisticians (NUTS). Many of the athletes below also competed at the 1986 AAA Championships.^[1][2]

Fatima Whitbread won her sixth consecutive women's javelin throw UK title, while shot putters Billy Cole and Judy Oakes both won a third straight title. Amongst the men's 1985 champions, John Regis (200 m), Phil Brown (400 m), Kevin Capper (steeplechase), Geoff Parsons (high jump), Andy Ashurst (pole vault) and Mick Hill (javelin) successfully defended their titles. Kathy Cook was the only woman other than Whitbread and Oakes to have a repeat win. Sprinter Sandra Whittaker was the only person to reach the podium in two events.^[1]

The main international track and field competition for the United Kingdom that year was the 1986 European Athletics Championships. UK champions Fatima Whitbread and Jack Buckner (5000 m) went on to become European champions, while Yvonne Murray (UK runner-up) took a 3000 m bronze.^[3][4] The four countries of the United Kingdom competed separately at the Commonwealth Games that year as well. UK Championships athletes to become Commonwealth gold medalists there included Roger Black (400 m), John Herbert (triple jump), Liz Lynch (10,000 m), Sally Gunnell (100 m hurdles), Joyce Oladapo (long jump), Andy Ashurst (pole vault) and Billy Cole (shot put).^[5][6]

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
100 metres	Jamie Henderson	10.49	Fenton Campbell	10.63	Clarence Callender	10.69
200 metres	John Regis	21.34	Stewart Weathers	21.43	Todd Bennett	21.47
400 metres	Phil Brown	45.29	Brian Whittle	45.38	Roger Black	45.48
800 metres	Peter Elliott	1:46.66	David Sharpe	1:47.01	Steve Crabb	1:47.14
1500 metres	Rob Harrison	3:35.74	John Gladwin	3:36.28	Neil Horsfield	3:42.86
5000 metres	Jack Buckner	13:52.30	Mark Rowland	13:54.64	John Robson	13:56.61
10,000 metres	Karl Harrison	28:21.93	Mark Dalloway	28:22.56	Peter Tootell	28:26.29
110 m hurdles	Colin Jackson	13.73	Nigel Walker	14.09	Wilbert Greaves	14.16
400 m hurdles	Max Robertson	49.99	Martin Gillingham	51.24	Mark Holtom	51.32
3000 metres steeplechase	Kevin Capper	8:36.14	Colin Walker	8:37.87	Andy Taylor	8:37.89
10,000 m walk	Phil Vesty	41:54.87	Steve Johnson	43:40.89	Chris Smith	44:51.52
High jump	Geoff Parsons	2.24 m	Dalton Grant	2.15 m	Fuzz Ahmed Floyd Manderson	2.10 m
Pole vault	Andy Ashurst	5.30 m	Keith Stock	5.00 m	Jeff Gutteridge Brian Hooper	5.00 m
Long jump	Derrick Brown	7.69 m	John King	7.57 m	Dwayne Heard	7.41 m
Triple jump	John Herbert	16.96 m w	Mike Makin	16.35 m	Lawrence Lynch	15.95 m w
Shot put	Billy Cole	18.68 m	Graham Savory	17.68 m	Andy Vince	17.56 m
Discus throw	Graham Savory	58.10 m	Peter Gordon	56.58 m	Jeff Clare	51.48 m
Hammer throw	Paul Head	67.48 m	Mick Jones	66.52 m	Andrew Tolputt	60.38 m
Javelin throw	Mick Hill	73.74 m	Gary Jenson	73.50 m	Peter Yates	72.14 m