Ian Alan Chipchase (born 26 February 1952) is an English former

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete who competed in the

hammer throw The hammer throw (HT for short) is one of the four throwing events in regular outdoor track-and-field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and Javelin throw, javelin. The hammer used in this sport is not like any of the tools a ...

. He was the gold medallist in the event at the

1974 British Commonwealth Games The 1974 British Commonwealth Games () were held in Christchurch, New Zealand, from 24 January to 2 February 1974. The bid vote was held in Edinburgh at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games. The event was officially named "the friendly games". T ...

with a games' record performance. His career best was , set in 1974. He also represented England at the

1978 Commonwealth Games The 1978 Commonwealth Games were held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, from 3 to 12 August, two years after the 1976 Summer Olympics was held in Montreal, Quebec. They were boycotted by Nigeria, in protest at New Zealand's sporting contacts with a ...

and Great Britain at the

1974 European Athletics Championships The 11th European Athletics Championships of 1974 were held from 2 September to 8 September in Italy, at Rome's Stadio Olimpico. Contemporaneous reports on the event were given in the Glasgow Herald. Men's results Complete results were p ...

Biography

Chipchase was born in

Hebburn Hebburn is a town in the South Tyneside borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It was formerly in County Durham until 1974 with its own urban district from 1894 until 1974. It is on the south bank of the River Tyne between Gateshead and Jarrow and ...

, County Durham, in the north of England. He rose to prominence at national level as a

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

in 1969 when he won the English Schools Championships, AAA Junior Championships and the British Schools international match. He retained all of those titles for following year. His international championship debut came at the

1970 European Athletics Junior Championships The 1970 European Athletics Junior Championships was the inaugural edition of the biennial athletics (sport), athletics competition for European athletes aged under twenty. It was held in Colombes, near Paris, France, between 11 and 13 September.< ...

, where he placed eighth with a mark of . His first senior hammer throw title at the North of England Athletics Championships was achieved while he was still a teenager in 1970. He would go on to take that title six times over his career. He set a British junior record of in the 1971 season. This stood for eight years until it was beaten by

Martin Girvan Martin Girvan (born 17 April 1960) is a British former athlete who specialised in the hammer throw. He represented both Great Britain and Northern Ireland in international competition. Biography Girvan had a personal best throw of 77.54m, set ...

. He continued to compete while entering

higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

and was a three-time champion consecutively at the Universities Athletic Union Championships from 1971 to 1973. At the

1973 AAA Championships The 1973 AAA Championships was the 1973 edition of the annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA). It was held from 13 to 14 July 1973 at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London, Engla ...

he placed third behind Britain's most dominant throwers and 1972 Olympians, Howard Payne and Barry Williams. Chipchase's career peaked in the 1974 season. He was chosen to represent England at the

and held off both Howard Payne and Peter Farmer to win the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

. He improved the previous games record three time during the competition, ending with a best of .Champ's sporting lot goes under hammer
''Shields Gazette'' (2013-01-17). Retrieved on 2015-06-22. That August he set a personal best of in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

– a mark which placed him among Britain's best ever throwers at that point, behind Barry Williams, Paul Dickenson and Chris Black. He competed at the

, coming tenth in a field dominated by Soviet and German athletes. He made only one major international appearance after 1974 – a sixth-place finish at the

. He was competitive domestically until the early 1980s, and his achievements include two titles at the Inter-Counties Championships (1978, 1980) and a third place at the

1981 UK Athletics Championships The 1981 UK Athletics Championships was the national championship in outdoor track and field for the United Kingdom held at Antrim Stadium, Antrim. It was the first time that a national track and field championship was held in Northern Ireland ...

.UK Championships
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2015-06-22. Chipchase married Dorothy Swinyard, also an English Commonwealth Games representative.

International competitions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chipchase, Ian Living people 1952 births Sportspeople from Hebburn English male hammer throwers British male hammer throwers Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Athletes (track and field) at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics