The 1959

British West Indies Championships The British West Indies Championships was an annual track and field competition between nations involved in the West Indies Federation and several other Caribbean nations with a British colonial history. Like the federation itself, the competition ...

was the third edition of the

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

competition between British colony nations in the Caribbean. It was held in Georgetown in

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies, which resides on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first European to encounter Guiana was S ...

. A total of 27 events were contested, twenty-one by men and six by women. This was the first time that women had been able to compete at the event. Three new men's events were added to the programme:

3000 metres steeplechase The 3000 metres steeplechase or 3000-meter steeplechase (usually abbreviated as ) is the most common distance for the steeplechase in track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, a ...

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcu ...

, and the

3000 metres walk The 3000 metres race walk is a racewalking event. The event is competed as a track race and was part of the athletics programme for women at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics until 1993. Athletes must always keep in contact with the ...

. The latter two were the first

road running Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track and cross country running over natural terrain. These events are usually classified as long-distance ac ...

and

racewalking Racewalking, or race walking, is a long-distance discipline within the sport of athletics. Although a foot race, it is different from running in that one foot must appear to be in contact with the ground at all times. Referee, Race judges careful ...

events to be included.British West Indies Championships
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2015-03-21. For a third time running,

George de Peana George De Peana (5 July 1936 – 26 July 2021) was a Guyanese Olympic long-distance runner and trade union leader. De Peana represented his country in the men's 5000 meters at the 1960 Summer Olympics. His time was 15:54.2. De Peana finished ...

of British Guiana won both the

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

and

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The race ...

titles, remaining undefeated at the tournament. Aside from de Peana,

Ralph Gomes Ralph Gomes (born 13 June 1937 in Uitvlugt; died 16 March 2020) was a track and field athlete from Guyana. He competed in the middle-distances, and represented his native country at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy , established_t ...

was the only other athlete to defend his title from the 1958 edition, doing so in the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

. George Kerr rose to prominence with a

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor runn ...

and

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...

double – distances he would win Olympic medals in a year later. In the women's section, the British Guiana team were dominant, being led by double individual sprint medallist Myra Fawcett. Also among the gold medallists was Antigua's

Lester Bird Sir Lester Bryant Bird KNH (21 February 1938 – 9 August 2021) was an Antigua and Barbuda politician and athlete who served as the second prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda from 1994 to 2004. He was chairman of the Antigua Labour Party (ALP ...

, winner of the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

here, who would later go on to be the

Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda The prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda is the head of government of the country. The current prime minister is Gaston Browne, since 13 June 2014.Jacqueline Charles"Browne becomes new prime minister of Antigua, youngest ever" ''The Miami He ...

(succeeding his father,

Vere Bird Sir Vere Cornwall Bird, KNH (9 December 1910 – 28 June 1999) was the first Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda. His son, Lester Bryant Bird, succeeded him as Prime Minister. In 1994 he was declared a national hero. He was an officer in ...

). Triple jump medallist

Wendell Mottley Wendell Adrian Mottley ORTT (born 2 July 1941) is a Trinidad and Tobago economist, politician and athlete. Mottley served as Senator and member of the House of Representatives with the Trinidad and Tobago Parliament and was Minister of Finance fr ...

also became involved in politics later in his life, serving as Trinidad and Tobago's Finance Minister, and high jumper Anton Norris was another athlete in the field to become a prominent economist in the region.E. Anton Norris, MBA
One Caribbean. Retrieved on 2015-03-22.

Medal summary

Men

Women

References

;Medallists

GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2015-03-21. {{British West Indies Championships British West Indies Championships

Athletics in Guyana Georgetown, Guyana