The British Athletics Championships is the premier national championship in track and field held in the United Kingdom, and are organised by British Athletics. The event has doubled as the main trials meet for international team selection for major events in which Great Britain and Northern Ireland compete, including the Olympic Games, the IAAF World Championships in Athletics and the European Athletics Championships. Only British athletes may formally compete, though in some circumstances British club-affiliated foreign athletes may take part as guests. Since 2023 the Championships have been promoted as the UK Athletics Championships, but are fully a continuation of the British Athletics championships, and separate from the same-named championships held between 1977 and 1997. Since the collapse of the British Athletics Federation, UK Athletics and British Athletics have been brands owned and used by the same organisation.
The event was established in 2007,[1] replacing the AAA Championships as the principal event on the domestic athletics calendar in the United Kingdom. The previous event named the UK Athletics Championships had nominally been the national championship, but in effect took second billing to the "triple A's". The creation of the British Athletics Championships as the main national championship and selection event, brought the governance of the elite level of the sport and team selection firmly under the new national body for the sport, moving away from the Amateur Athletic Association of England, which had served that role since 1880.[2] A 2001 British Championship in women's 3000 metres steeplechase was held as a one-off at Scotstoun Stadium, due to the growing popularity of the event among women and its absence from the AAA Championships programme (the event was added a year later).[3]
A number of events are not included, or included only sporadically, at the championships. The combined events of decathlon and heptathlon are usually, but not always, held separately, while the elite races at the Night of 10,000 metre PBs meet in Highgate has included the British championships in that event since 2016. The championships often feature shorter track based racewalking events as exhibition championships, but not the longer road based distances run at major championships. finally, relays tend not to held at the championships.
