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1885 AAA Championships
The 1885 AAA Championships was an outdoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA), held on Saturday 27 June at the Southport Sports Ground, Southport, England.
Competitions took place in beautiful weather in front of around 6,000 spectators. At the conclusion the prizes were presented by Mr. G. A. Pilkington, the Mayor of Southport.
The fourteen events on the programme were for men only, with heats and finals all held on the same day, with the exception of the 10 miles race, which was held on the following Monday, 29 June, at the same venue. The track, the home of Southport Athletic Club, was a cinder circuit 440 yards in circumference with a grass infield where the hurdle races were held, and there were stands of reserved seating on both sides of the stadium. This was the first time the championship had been held on a 440 yard track, which was described as being in "capital condition". There were three official timekeepers and they employed the services of a professional starter, Tom Wilkinson from Sheffield.
There were no heats in the field events, some of which had only two or three competitors, and the only track event in which heats were necessary was the 120 yards hurdles. It was customary at the time for race winners only to have their performances recorded, therefore, in the tables below other competitors are shown with the distance each man was behind the man in front. Field event performances are shown in feet and inches as they were originally measured, with a conversion to metric measurement in parentheses. Conversions have been obtained using the International Metric Conversion Tables published by the International Amateur Athletics Federation in 1970.
Three Americans, all members of Manhattan AC in New York, competed at the championships. Lyndon P. Smith (100 yards), Laurence Eugene `Lon' Myers (440 yards, and 880 yards), and Alexander A. Jordan (120 yards hurdles). Jordan was entered in the long jump but took no part in the competition. The three Americans ran in their club colours of a white vest with a cherry diamond on the left breast, cherry coloured shorts with a cherry sash worn around the waist. Myers, as was his usual custom, wore a white handkerchief tied round his head. William Henry Meek (West Side AC, New York), the holder of the 7 miles walk championship, has since turned professional and was unable to defend his title.
Three other champions did not defend their titles. Charles Gowthorpe (Notts Forest FC) relinquished the 120 yards hurdles title, Ernest Horwood (Blackheath H.) did not defend his long jump title, and most notable of all was that Walter George (Moseley H.) had turned professional during the winter of 1884-85 and was unable to defend any of the four titles he had won last year. His chief motivation for this was a significant personal debt acquired through a gambling habit.
Three events, 10 miles, shot and hammer, saw new championship best performances. In fact, only two men finished the ten miles but they both beat the previous best performance. William Barry (Queen's College AC, Cork), who won the hammer, broke the world record for the hammer four times in 1885, taking John Gruer's 1883 mark of 101ft 2 1/2in (30.84m) to 119ft 0in (36.28m) on 1 October in New York. In 1887 Barry became the first man to throw 120 feet (36.58m) and he retired in 1888 with a best of 129ft 3 1/2in (39.40m). And Donald Mackinnon (London Scottish RFC), after winning the shot put and finishing second in the hammer at these championships, had an exhibition throw measured at 111ft 3in (33.92m).
James Cowie (London AC) successfully defended his 100 yards title and for winning this event three years in succession was awarded a gold medal by the AAAs. Three yards behind Cowie was the American Lyndon Smith, and he explained his defeat by saying that having enjoyed himself too much in Paris before the championships he was not in condition, but under the circumstances he felt satisfied at getting second place.
1885 AAA Championships
The 1885 AAA Championships was an outdoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA), held on Saturday 27 June at the Southport Sports Ground, Southport, England.
Competitions took place in beautiful weather in front of around 6,000 spectators. At the conclusion the prizes were presented by Mr. G. A. Pilkington, the Mayor of Southport.
The fourteen events on the programme were for men only, with heats and finals all held on the same day, with the exception of the 10 miles race, which was held on the following Monday, 29 June, at the same venue. The track, the home of Southport Athletic Club, was a cinder circuit 440 yards in circumference with a grass infield where the hurdle races were held, and there were stands of reserved seating on both sides of the stadium. This was the first time the championship had been held on a 440 yard track, which was described as being in "capital condition". There were three official timekeepers and they employed the services of a professional starter, Tom Wilkinson from Sheffield.
There were no heats in the field events, some of which had only two or three competitors, and the only track event in which heats were necessary was the 120 yards hurdles. It was customary at the time for race winners only to have their performances recorded, therefore, in the tables below other competitors are shown with the distance each man was behind the man in front. Field event performances are shown in feet and inches as they were originally measured, with a conversion to metric measurement in parentheses. Conversions have been obtained using the International Metric Conversion Tables published by the International Amateur Athletics Federation in 1970.
Three Americans, all members of Manhattan AC in New York, competed at the championships. Lyndon P. Smith (100 yards), Laurence Eugene `Lon' Myers (440 yards, and 880 yards), and Alexander A. Jordan (120 yards hurdles). Jordan was entered in the long jump but took no part in the competition. The three Americans ran in their club colours of a white vest with a cherry diamond on the left breast, cherry coloured shorts with a cherry sash worn around the waist. Myers, as was his usual custom, wore a white handkerchief tied round his head. William Henry Meek (West Side AC, New York), the holder of the 7 miles walk championship, has since turned professional and was unable to defend his title.
Three other champions did not defend their titles. Charles Gowthorpe (Notts Forest FC) relinquished the 120 yards hurdles title, Ernest Horwood (Blackheath H.) did not defend his long jump title, and most notable of all was that Walter George (Moseley H.) had turned professional during the winter of 1884-85 and was unable to defend any of the four titles he had won last year. His chief motivation for this was a significant personal debt acquired through a gambling habit.
Three events, 10 miles, shot and hammer, saw new championship best performances. In fact, only two men finished the ten miles but they both beat the previous best performance. William Barry (Queen's College AC, Cork), who won the hammer, broke the world record for the hammer four times in 1885, taking John Gruer's 1883 mark of 101ft 2 1/2in (30.84m) to 119ft 0in (36.28m) on 1 October in New York. In 1887 Barry became the first man to throw 120 feet (36.58m) and he retired in 1888 with a best of 129ft 3 1/2in (39.40m). And Donald Mackinnon (London Scottish RFC), after winning the shot put and finishing second in the hammer at these championships, had an exhibition throw measured at 111ft 3in (33.92m).
James Cowie (London AC) successfully defended his 100 yards title and for winning this event three years in succession was awarded a gold medal by the AAAs. Three yards behind Cowie was the American Lyndon Smith, and he explained his defeat by saying that having enjoyed himself too much in Paris before the championships he was not in condition, but under the circumstances he felt satisfied at getting second place.