The 1981

UK Athletics Championships The UK Athletics Championships was an annual national championship in track and field for the United Kingdom, organised by the British Athletics Federation. The event incorporated the 1980 Olympic trials for the British Olympic team. The venue f ...

was the national championship in outdoor

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 ...

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 Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. It was the fifth edition of the competition limited to British athletes only, launched as an alternative to the

AAA Championships The AAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event in the United Kingdom during its lifetime, despite the existence of the officia ...

, which was open to foreign competitors. However, due to the fact that 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 1981 AAA Championships.UK Championships
GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2018-02-25.
NUTS. Retrieved 2018-02-25. David Ottley won his fourth straight title in the men's

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's decathlon and the ...

. Among the athletes to defend their 1980 UK titles were Cameron Sharp (men's

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

Carol Tyson Carol Tyson (15 December 1957 – 12 June 2005) was a British racewalking athlete. She was a three-time competitor at the IAAF World Race Walking Cup and was twice a silver medallist. Born to Jack and Peggy Tyson, both medical doctors, she atten ...

(

race walk 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. Race judges carefully asse ...

) and Louise Miller (

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

). Three athletes won UK title doubles, all of them women:

Linsey MacDonald Linsey Macdonald (born 14 February 1964) is a former Scottish sprinter from Dunfermline, Fife, who specialised in the 400 metres. She was nicknamed "The Fife Flyer" during her career. Inspired by competitors like Mary Peters she started in ...

won the short sprint double, Gillian Dainty took both middle-distance titles, while

Venissa Head Venissa Anne Head (born 1 September 1956 in Merthyr Tydfil) is a former international track and field athlete from Wales. Biography She went to secondary school at Cyfarthfa Castle Grammar School in Wales, and it was whilst there that she w ...

was both

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

and

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disk (mathematics), disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an classical antiqui ...

champion. The main international track and field competition for the United Kingdom that year was the 1981 European Cup. Reflecting the secondary status of the UK event at national level, none of the British individual medallists there were present at UK Championships, though all members of the medal-winning women's

4 × 400 metres relay The 4 × 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics track event in which teams consist of four runners who each complete 400 metres or one lap. It is traditionally the final event of a track meet. At top class events, th ...

reached the podium in Antrim ( Linda Forsyth,

Michelle Scutt Michelle Scutt (born Probert on 17 June 1960) is a female former British Olympic athlete. Competing for Wales at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Australia, she won a silver medal in the 400 metres, behind Australia's Raelene Boyle. At ...

Verona Elder Verona Marolin Elder (née Verona Bernard) MBE (born 5 April 1953 in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire) is a female British, Commonwealth and European medal winning English 400 metres runner and is now the manager of the British athletics team for ...

and Joslyn Hoyte-Smith).European Cup (Women)
GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2018-03-06.

Medal summary

Men

Women

References

{{British championships in athletics UK Athletics Championships UK Outdoor Championships Athletics Outdoor Sport in County Antrim Athletics competitions in Northern Ireland