The AAA Indoor Championships was an annual indoor

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 organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost indoor domestic

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), competiti ...

event during its lifetime. The event was first held in 1935, following the construction of an adequate venue in

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena (originally the Empire Pool, now known as OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London, England, used for music, comedy, family entertainment and sport. The 12,500-sea ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

for the

1934 British Empire Games The 1934 British Empire Games were the second edition of what is now known as the Commonwealth Games, held in England, from 4–11 August 1934. The host city was London, with the main venue at Wembley Park, although the track cycling events wer ...

. The first iteration of the competition lasted for five editions and featured around nine men's indoor track and field events and six for women. The onset of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

meant the competition was not held in 1940. The second iteration of the competition began in 1962, returning to its Wembley venue. The championships had a long residency at

RAF Cosford Royal Air Force Cosford or RAF Cosford (formerly DCAE Cosford) is a Royal Air Force station in Cosford, Shropshire, Cosford, Shropshire, just to the northwest of Wolverhampton and next to Albrighton, Bridgnorth, Albrighton. History Origins RA ...

indoor arena from 1965 to 1991, then from 1992 to 2001 at the

National Indoor Arena Arena Birmingham (known for sponsorship reasons as Utilita Arena Birmingham, and previously as The Barclaycard Arena and originally as the National Indoor Arena) is an indoor arena and sporting venue in central Birmingham, United Kingdom. It ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

. The final few editions for held at the

English Institute of Sport, Sheffield The English Institute of Sport is a multi-sport facility in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The facility designed by FaulknerBrowns Architects was opened in December 2003 at a cost of £24 million. Its main feature is a 200m indoor track, ...

. The event ceased in 2006, being replaced by the

UK Athletics UK Athletics (UKA) is the governing body for the sport of athletics (sport), athletics in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for overseeing the governance of athletics events in the UK as well as athletes, their development, and athletics o ...

-organised

British Indoor Athletics Championships The British Indoor Athletics Championships is the annual national championship in indoor track and field for the United Kingdom, organised by UK Athletics. Eight track and five field events for both men and women are contested, with athletes being i ...

. Though organised by the English governing body, it was open to all athletes from 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 Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, and also to overseas athletes. (Most of the foreign athletes who competed were Irish or UK-based.) It served as the de facto British Championships, given the absence of such a competition during its history. It was typically held over two days over a weekend in February. It was among the earliest and most significant annual indoor track and field competitions, being preceded only by the

AAU Indoor Track and Field Championships The USA Indoor Track and Field Championships is an annual indoor track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport. In years which feature a World Indoor Championships in ...

in the United States (established in 1907). The restarting of the AAA Indoor Championships in 1962 came alongside similar national developments elsewhere, including the German Indoor Championships in 1954 and Soviet Indoors in 1964. The

European Athletics Indoor Championships The European Athletics Indoor Championships is a biennial indoor track and field competition for European athletes that is organised by the European Athletic Association. It was held for the first time in 1970, replacing the European Indoor Games, ...

became the first regular indoor international championship in 1966.European Indoor Championships
GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2018-03-10.

Events

The following

events featured as standard on the main AAA Championships programme: * Sprint: 60 m, 200 m, 400 m * Distance track events: 800 m, 1500 m, 3000 m *

Hurdles Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

: 60 m hurdles * Jumps: long jump, triple jump, high jump, pole vault * Throws: shot put Events were initially raced and measured in imperial distances, with the transition to metric occurring in 1968 for men and 1969 for women. A men's 2000 metres steeplechase was contested from 1967 to 1985.

Combined track and field events Combined track and field events are competitions in which athletes participate in a number of track and field events, earning points for their performance in each event, which adds to a total points score. Outdoors, the most common combined events ...

were introduced in 1987 in the form of a men's

octathlon An octathlon is a combined event competition consisting of eight different sports or contests. Track and field An octathlon in athletics is an event which consists of eight track and field events. The word "octathlon" derives from the Greek words o ...

and a

women's pentathlon The pentathlon or women's pentathlon is a combined track and field event in which each woman competes in five separate events over one day (formerly two days). The distance or time for each event is converted to points via scoring tables, with ...

; the octathlon was amended to the international standard

men's heptathlon A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek επτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hept ...

in 1991.

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 ...

briefly featured on the programme, with a men's and women's

3000 metres track 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 ...

happening from 1997 to 2002. A women's 1.5 mile walk was also held in 1966 and 1967. and a men's 1-mile walk in 1936. The non-standard

600-yard run Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, up to 3000 metres. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distance event. The ...

was held for both men and women from 1962 to 1964. In line with the international expansion of women's

programmes to match the men's, the

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000m shoul ...

for women was added in 1973, the

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down th ...

was added in 1991 and the

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

in 1994.

Editions

Most successful athletes by event

References

{{defunct athletics competitions Defunct athletics competitions Athletics competitions in England Recurring sporting events established in 1935 National championships in the United Kingdom National indoor athletics competitions Defunct sports competitions in England Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2006 1935 establishments in England 2006 disestablishments in England