Ian Alan Chipchase (born 26 February 1952) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

former

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 ...

athlete who competed in the

hammer throw The hammer throw is one of the four throwing events in regular track and field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and javelin. The "hammer" used in this sport is not like any of the tools also called by that name. It consis ...

. He was the gold medallist in the event at the

1974 British Commonwealth Games The 1974 British Commonwealth Games ( mi, 1974 Taumāhekeheke Commonwealth) 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 Games were off ...

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 from 3 to 12 August 1978, two years after the 1976 Summer Olympics were held in Montreal, Quebec. They were boycotted by Nigeria, in protest at New Zealand's sporting contacts with apar ...

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 pu ...

Career

Chipchase was born in

Hebburn Hebburn is a town in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, England. It governed under the borough of South Tyneside; formerly governed under the county of Durham until 1974 with its own urban district from 1894 until 1974. It is on the south ...

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

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in 1969 when he won the

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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 competition for European athletes aged under twenty. It was held in Colombes, near Paris, France, between 11 and 13 September.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. He continued to compete while entering

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...

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

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 ...

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 bee ...

. 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 ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

– a mark which placed him among Britain's best ever throwers at that point, behind Barry Williams,

Paul Dickenson Derek Paul Dickenson (born 4 December 1949 in North Shields, Northumberland) is an English retired male hammer thrower. Athletics career Dickenson represented the United Kingdom at two consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1976 (Montreal). ...

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 People from Hebburn Sportspeople from Tyne and Wear British male hammer throwers English male hammer throwers Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics 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