1960 British West Indies Championships

The 1960 British West Indies Championships was the fourth edition of the track and field competition between British colony nations in the Caribbean. It was held in Kingston, Jamaica. A total of 31 events were contested, twenty-two by men and nine by women. The women's programme was extended with three throwing events. A new men's event was also included: the athletics pentathlon was the first and only time that a combined track and field event was contested at the completion.^[1]

Jamaica's was the most successful athlete of the tournament, winning all three inaugural women's throwing events. Harry Prowell succeeded his fellow British Guianan, , as the dominant long-distance runner by winning the 5000 m and 10,000 m races. Leroy Keane of Jamaica was the only other athlete to win two titles: he topped the podium in the 400 metres hurdles and also the pentathlon. Six men managed to retain their 1959 titles: Wilton Jackson (200 m), George Kerr (800 m), Ralph Gomes (a third 1500 m title), Keith Gardner (110 m hurdles), (half marathon) and Sydney Thomas (3000 m walk). Brenda Archer was the only woman to defend her 1959 title, doing so in the women's high jump.^[1]

This competition preceded the assembly of the first British West Indies Olympic team. At the 1960 Summer Olympics, the federation won two medals: reigning British West Indies 800 m champion George Kerr took the bronze medal in his speciality, and a team of Kerr, James Wedderburn, Gardner and Mal Spence won a second bronze in the 4×400 metres relay.^[2]

Saint Lucia had its first ever medallist at the tournament in the form of 's gold in the men's shot put.^[1]

Medal summary[]

Men[]

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
100 metres	Tom Robinson (BAH)	10.4	Dennis Johnson (JAM)	10.4	(JAM)	10.6
200 metres	Wilton Jackson (TRI)	21.1	Keith Gardner (JAM)	21.2	Clifton Bertrand (TRI)	21.3
400 metres	Mal Spence (JAM)	46.7	George Kerr (JAM)	46.8	Mel Spence (JAM)	47.1
800 metres	George Kerr (JAM)	1:49.8	Ralph Gomes (BGU)	1:50.6	(JAM)	1:51.3
1500 metres	Ralph Gomes (BGU)	3:58.6	(TRI)	3:59.1	(BGU)	4:03.0
5000 metres	Harry Prowell (BGU)	15:15.0	(TRI)	15:26.1	(BGU)	15:26.7
10,000 metres	Harry Prowell (BGU)	31:57.3	(BGU)	32:15.0	(TRI)	32:41.5
110 m hurdles	Keith Gardner (JAM)	14.5	Leroy Keane (JAM)	15.1	(TRI)	15.7
400 m hurdles	Leroy Keane (JAM)	53.7	(TRI)	55.5	(BGU)	56.6
3000 metres steeplechase	(TRI)	10:58.5	(BGU)	11:15.3	(BGU)	???
4×100 m relay	Jamaica (JAM)	41.5	British Guiana (BGU)	42.7	Bahamas (BAH)	45.8
4×400 m relay	Jamaica (JAM)	3:09.2	British Guiana (BGU)	3:18.8	Trinidad and Tobago (TTO)	3:24.3
Half marathon	(BGU)	1:11:13	(BGU)	1:12:41	(BGU)	1:12:42
3000 metres track walk	(TRI)	15:05.6	(TRI)	15:10.5	D. Richards (ATG)	17:13.4
High jump	Ernle Haisley (JAM)	2.02 m	(TRI)	1.85 m	(BGU)	1.80 m
Pole vault	(BGU)	3.69 m	(JAM)	3.50 m	(TRI)	3.50 m
Long jump	Paul Foreman (JAM)	7.55 m	Victor Brooks (JAM)	7.36 m	Lester Bird (ATG)	7.24 m
Triple jump	(JAM)	15.47 m	(TRI)	14.31 m	Victor Brooks (JAM)	14.18 m
Shot put	(LCA)	13.79 m	(BGU)	13.70 m	(TRI)	13.22 m
Discus throw	(ATG)	42.79 m	(TRI)	39.76 m	(JAM)	38.51 m
Javelin throw	(TRI)	62.10 m	(BAR)	55.05 m	(JAM)	??? m
Pentathlon	Leroy Keane (JAM)	2512 pts	Wellesley Clayton (JAM)	2289 pts	(BGU)	2243 pts

Women[]

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
100 metres	(TRI)	12.4	(JAM)	12.5	(BGU)	12.6
200 metres	(JAM)	25.3	(TRI)	25.5	(BGU)	???
80 m hurdles	(TRI)	13.1	(JAM)	13.3	(JAM)	13.8
4×100 m relay	Trinidad and Tobago (TTO)	50.4	British Guiana (BGU)	50.8	Unknown team	???
High jump	Brenda Archer (BGU)	1.61 m	(JAM)	1.50 m	(ATG)	??? m
Long jump	(JAM)	5.52 m	(TRI)	5.05 m	(BGU)	5.03 m
Shot put	(JAM)	9.80 m	(TRI)	8.85 m	Brenda Archer (BGU)	8.39 m
Discus throw	(JAM)	29.98 m	(BGU)	25.40 m	(TRI)	24.97 m
Javelin throw	(JAM)	29.79 m	(JAM)	29.10 m	(TRI)	27.76 m

References[]

Medallists

• British West Indies Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2015-03-21.