UK Athletics (UKA) is the governing body for the sport of

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. It is responsible for overseeing the governance of athletics events in the UK as well as athletes, their development, and athletics officials. The organisation outwardly rebranded itself as British Athletics in 2013, although it remains legally known as UK Athletics, and continues to use the UK Athletics name in internal governance. Among other duties, the organisation selects athletes to represent Great Britain and Northern Ireland in international competitions outside the Commonwealth Games, and organises the major national championships in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

for the sport indoors and

out Out or OUT may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films *Out (1957 film), ''Out'' (1957 film), a documentary short about the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 *Out (1982 film), ''Out'' (1982 film), an American film directed by Eli Hollander *O ...

. in 2023 the organisation began once more to brand its national championships under the UK Athletics Championships title, but the remain one and the same championships. UK Athletics is structured as a non-profit

company limited by guarantee A company limited by guarantee (CLG) is a type of company where the liability of members in the event the company is wound up is limited to a (typically very small) amount listed in the company's articles or constitution. Most have no share ca ...

. It has four member organisations from each of the

constituent countries of the United Kingdom Since 1922, the United Kingdom has been made up of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales (which collectively make up Great Britain) and Northern Ireland ( variously described as a country, province, jurisdiction or region). The UK prime min ...

England Athletics England Athletics is the governing body for the sport of athletics in England. It was set up as a limited company in 2005, taking over the role of the Amateur Athletic Association of England. England Athletics works closely with UK Athletics, the ...

Scottish Athletics Scottish Athletics, stylised as scottishathletics, is the governing body for the sport of athletics in Scotland. As such it is responsible for organising annual championships, maintaining rules for competition and ratifying records. It also selec ...

Welsh Athletics Welsh Athletics (WA; ) is the governing body for the sport of athletics in Wales. It was set up as a limited company in 2007, replacing the former Athletic Association of Wales. Welsh Athletics is part of UK Athletics, the national governing body ...

, and Athletics Northern Ireland.

History

UK Athletics was founded in 1999 as a successor to the British Athletics Federation, which had collapsed for financial reasons. Prominent among the reasons was the cost of the legal bills in the

Diane Modahl Diane Dolores Modahl (née Edwards, born 17 June 1966) is an English former middle-distance runner who specialised in the 800 metres. She won a gold medal in the 800 m at the 1990 Commonwealth Games, silver at the 1986 Commonwealth Games ...

contract dispute case. Former long-distance runner

David Moorcroft David Robert Moorcroft (born 10 April 1953) is a former middle-distance and long-distance runner from England, and former world record holder for 5,000 metres. His athletic career spanned the late-1970s and 1980s. He subsequently served as ...

, previously Chief Executive of the British Athletics Federation, continued in the same role at the newly formed UKA. He headed the organisation until 2006 when he stepped down after

's worst performance at a

European Athletics Championships The European Athletics Championships is a biennial (from 2010) athletics event organised by the European Athletic Association and is recognised as the elite continental outdoor athletics championships for Europe. Editions First held, for me ...

for twenty years. The results in

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

(their sole gold medal coming in the 100 m relay) were below expectations and failed to meet the target for improving British athletics in preparation for the upcoming

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. Moorcroft's departure triggered a restructuring of the organisation and the creation of the role of chairman, to which businessman Ed Warner was appointed.

Charles van Commenee Charles van Commenee, written in Dutch as van Commenée, (born 22 June 1958) is a Dutch Track and field athletics, athletics coach. He began his professional career as a technical director with the Dutch athletics federation before moving to take ...

was made national head coach, a newly created role, in September 2008. Shortly afterwards Peter Eriksson was appointed head coach of the Paralympic Programme. Van Commenee stepped down after the

London 2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

due to the team's failure to meet the medal target he had set. This was despite a reasonably favourable reaction to Britain's achievement of six medals and the desire of UK Athletics that he should remain in the post. Van Commenee was succeeded by Peter Eriksson, who served only seven months of a five-year contract before resigning for personal reasons. UKA Performance Director Neil Black was appointed temporary replacement. A restructuring announced in December 2013 saw the single role of head coach replaced by three heads of department (endurance, sprints and field events). The athletes compete in Olympic competition under the brand name of

Team GB Team GB is the brand name used since 1999 by the British Olympic Association (BOA) for their British Olympic team. The brand was developed after the nation's poor performance in the 1996 Summer Olympics, and is now a trademark of the BOA. ...

. The current CEO is

Jack Buckner Jack Richard Buckner (born 22 September 1961) is a former British athlete. Athletics career Buckner was educated at St. Petroc's preparatory school in Bude, Cornwall where he won the Victor Ludorum trophy in 1975, as well as a scholarship to ...

and the Chair is Ian Beattie.

Denise Lewis Dame Denise Rosemarie Lewis (born 27 August 1972) is a British sports administrator and former sports presenter and athletics athlete, who specialised in the heptathlon. She won the gold medal in the heptathlon at the 2000 Sydney Olympics ...

was elected as the organisation's president in December 2023, succeeding

Jason Gardener Jason Carl Gardener, (born 18 September 1975) is a retired British sprint athlete. A fast starter from the blocks, he won an Olympic gold medal leading off Great Britain in the 4 × 100 metres relay at the 2004 Olympic Games, and is also the ...

, but stepped down temporarily from the post in February 2024. Lewis resumed the presidency of UK Athletics in August 2024 after leaving her role as a

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

pundit.

References

External links

*
British Athletics

Power of 10
(UK Athletics rankings and statistics)
UK & Ireland Athletic Club Directory
{{DEFAULTSORT:Uk Athletics Athletics in the United Kingdom

Organisations based in Birmingham, West Midlands Sport in Birmingham, West Midlands 1999 establishments in the United Kingdom

Athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

Sports organizations established in 1999

History

See also

References

External links