The 2020

British Athletics Championships 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 maj ...

(known for sponsorship reasons as the Müller British Athletics Championships) 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 athletes in the United Kingdom. The championship took place on 4–5 September 2020, having been postponed from June 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Background

The championship was originally scheduled for 20–21 June 2020, but in April 2020 it was postponed until 8–9 August due to the

. In June 2020, the event was postponed again, to 4–5 September 2020. The championship was held at the

Manchester Regional Arena Manchester Regional Arena is a multipurpose stadium in Manchester, England, primarily used for athletics, football and rugby league. History It was originally developed as the warm-up track for the 2002 Commonwealth Games held at the adjacent ...

, as part of a three-year agreement to hold the event in Manchester from 2020 to 2022; from 2008 to 2019, the championships had been held at the

Alexander Stadium Alexander Stadium is a track and field athletics stadium in Perry Park, Birmingham, England. It hosted the athletics and opening/closing ceremonies of the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Other events held there include the annual British Grand Prix ...

in Birmingham. The entire event was held behind closed doors, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The stadium contained cardboard cut outs of some fans. The event was originally intended as a qualifying event for the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

. After the Olympics were postponed until 2021, the 2021 Championships were used as the Olympic qualifying event. Almost 500 athletes competed at the championship. Notable athletes missing from the championship included

Dina Asher-Smith Geraldina "Dina" Rachel Asher-Smith, (; born 4 December 1995) is a British sprinter. She is the fastest British woman on record. She won a gold medal in the 200 metres, silver in the 100 metres and another silver in the 4×100 m relay a ...

Mo Farah Sir Mohamed Muktar Jama Farah (born Hussein Abdi Kahin; 23 March 1983) is a British long-distance runner. His ten global championship gold medals (four Olympic and six World titles) make him the most successful male track distance runner ever ...

Katarina Johnson-Thompson Katarina Mary Johnson-Thompson (born 9 January 1993) is an English athlete primarily known as an elite multi-eventer, both as a heptathlete and an indoor pentathlete. She has been World Champion in both disciplines, and a double Commonwealth G ...

, and

Laura Muir Laura Muir (born 9 May 1993) is a Scottish middle- and long-distance runner. She is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic silver medallist in the 1500 metres, having previously finished seventh in the event at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Muir won the bronze meda ...

. Farah instead competed at the

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fourteen of the best invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF) one-day mee ...

event in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, where he broke the

one hour run The one hour run is an athletics event in which competitors try to cover as much distance as possible within one hour. While officially recognized by World Athletics as a track event, it is rarely contested apart from occasional world record atte ...

world record. Muir instead competed in the

World Athletics Continental Tour The World Athletics Continental Tour is an annual series of independent track and field athletic competitions, recognised by World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF). The Tour forms the second tier of international one-day meetings after the ...

's Kamila Skolimowska Memorial event in Poland, where she won the 1500 metres race.

Highlights

In the men's pole vault event,

Harry Coppell Harry Coppell (born 11 July 1996) is an English athlete specialising in the pole vault. He became British champion when winning the pole vault event at the 2019 British Athletics Championships. He then successfully defended his title at the 20 ...

broke the British national record by clearing a height of 5.85m. In the women's 3,000 metres steeplechase,

Aimee Pratt Aimee Pratt (born 3 October 1997) is a British athlete. She competed in the women's 3000 metres steeplechase event at the 2019 World Athletics Championships. In 2016, she competed in the women's 3000 metres steeplechase event at the 2016 IAAF ...

set a record time at the British Athletics Championships. On 5 September, seven stadium records were set during the Championships.

Hannah Taunton Hannah Taunton (born 31 May 1991) is a British Paralympic athlete. She won bronze in the Women's 1500 metres T20 at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo. References External links * * 1991 births Living people Paralympic athletes of ...

set the world record in the 5,000 metres T20 event, and

set the year's fastest time in the 3000m steeplechase event. The men's 800 metres event was won by

Daniel Rowden Daniel Rowden (born 9 September 1997) is an English middle-distance runner specialising in the 800 metres. He won a silver medal at the 2017 European U23 Championships. He became British champion when winning the 800 metres event at the 2020 ...

in a sprint finish with

Jake Wightman Jake Wightman (born 11 July 1994) is a British middle-distance runner competing primarily in the 1500 metres. He won the gold medal at the 2022 World Championships, the first global gold in a middle distance event for a British male since Seb ...

, who finished second.

Holly Bradshaw Holly Bethan Bradshaw (née Bleasdale, born 2 November 1991) is a British track and field athlete who specialises in the pole vault. She is the current British record holder in the event indoors and outdoors, with clearances of 4.87 metres (201 ...

won her eighth British pole vault title. In the absence of Dina Asher-Smith, 22-year old Imani-Lara Lansiquot won the women's 100 metres race, which was her first British title.

Results

Men

Women

Parasports – Men

Parasports – Women

References

External links

British Athletics
{{DEFAULTSORT:British Athletics Championships, 2020

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

British Outdoor Championships Athletics Outdoor Athletics Championships Sports competitions in Manchester Athletics (track and field) events postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic