2024 UK Athletics Championships Manchester: Preview, schedule and how to watch

By Jo Gunston
6 min|
British athletics trials header

A big two days of athletics in northwest England on the last weekend of June sees British competitors take to the Manchester Regional Arena to showcase their form ahead of Paris 2024, claim one of 40 national titles, achieve Olympic qualifying marks, and hone their training sessions ahead of the XXXIII Olympiad that starts 26 July.

Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 June will be buzzing with fans able to see the best of British in track and field, with athletes taut with nervous energy with less than one month to go until the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

Marquee names include two-time Olympic bronze medallist, Dina Asher-Smith, competing in the 200m, the discipline in which she was crowned world champion in 2019.

Keely Hodgkinson, meanwhile, is done with claiming silver on the international stage in the 800m having secured second spot at Tokyo 2020, and at the 2022 and 2023 world championships.

Aiming for gold in Paris – should she be selected that is, the GB athletics squad, barring the already announced marathon runners, will be named following the trials – the former criminology student is using the event to hone her craft by taking on the 400m.

Matt Hudson-Smith is also completing his final prep for Paris 2024 and will run in the 200m as well as his 400m speciality.

In the form of his life after a challenging period, mentally and physically, Hudson-Smith improved his European record from 44.26 to 44.07 at the Diamond League in Oslo in June. Bettering his own mark, he also inched closer to the magical 43-seconds, the holy grail for one-lap wonders in the men's event.

The championships also welcome a return to the fray for two-time heptathlon world champion, Katarina Johnson-Thompson, who will participate in three events, the 200m, javelin and high jump. The three-time Olympian withdrew part way through the European Championships in Rome in June with coach, Aston Moore, citing a "small niggle in her right leg".

  • As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at the Paris Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024. Click here to see the official qualification system for each sport.

Olympic Athletics schedule at Paris 2024

Molly Caudery, Zharnel Hughes and Daryll Neita set for big performances in Manchester

Pole vaulter Molly Caudery continues her breakout season securing a new national record, world lead, and the seventh-best jump of all time in the women's discipline of 4.92m at a meet in France on 22 June.

The surfing fan also began the all-important Olympic year by winning the world indoor title in March, bursting onto the scene.

GB's first ever women's Olympic pole vault medallist, with bronze at Tokyo 2020, Holly Bradshaw, will be aiming for an astonishing fourth Olympic Games appearance.

The men's 100m line up also proves enticing.

Stalwart Zharnel Hughes, a three-time world medallist, has Olympic redemption on his mind after injury at Rio 2016, and a false start in Japan curtailed individual medal hopes.

He lines up against new US college sensation, Louie Hinchcliffe. The University of Houston student became the first European to win the men's 100m at the NCAA Championships in Oregon in June, in 9.95 seconds, the sixth fastest time ever for a British male runner. You might know his coach, too. Nine-time Olympic champion, Carl Lewis.

Romell Glave, who won a first-ever international medal with European bronze in the 100m in the Stadio Oilmpico in Rome, is also in attendance, along with Reece Prescod and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake.

Joining Asher-Smith in the sprint races will be her teammates from the European Championships winning 4x100m squad of Desiree Henry, one of seven young athletes chosen to light the Olympic flame at the London 2012 opening ceremony, Amy Hunt, and Daryll Neita, all rapid athletes in their own right.

The plethora of big names continue with Laura Muir, Jake Wightman, Jemma Reekie, Ben Pattison, Sophie McKinna, Morgan Lake and Jonny Peacock.

An explosive showdown is also promised in the women's para 100m between Kadeena Cox, Sophie Hahn and Olivia Breen, the latter of whom is also taking part in the women's long jump.

An Olympic and Paralympic hors d'oeuvre, then, with the anticipation of the main course building quickly, fans are keenly aware of the drama and joy that will inevitably emerge with Paris 2024 just weeks away.

A must-watch for sports fans.

2024 UK Athletics Championships schedule – Day 1 of 2 – Saturday 29 June

(Times: BST. Subject to change - Correct as of 18 June 2024)

11:30 400m Hurdles Women Heats

11:57 Javelin Throw Women Final

12:00 400m Hurdles Men Heats

12:30 100m Women Heats

13:17 Long Jump Men Final

13:20 100m Men Heats

14:22 High Jump Men Final

14:25 800m Men Heats

14:52 Discus Throw Men Final

14:55 800m Women Heats

15:25 100m Hurdles Women Heats

15:52 Pole Vault Women Final

15:55 400m Women Heats

16:22 Triple Jump Women Final

16:25 400m Men Heats

16:55 100m Ambulant Women Race 1

17:02 100m Women Semi-Final

17:25 100m Ambulant Men Race 1

17:29 Hammer Throw Women Final

17:32 100m Men Semi-Final

17:55 Shot Put Men Final

17:58 100m Hurdles Women Final

18:06 1500m Men Heats

18:30 1500m Women Heats

19:00 3000m SC Women Final

19:18 5000m Women Final

19:42 100m Ambulant Women Race 2

19:50 100m Ambulant Men Race 2

19:58 100m Women Final

20:08 100m Men Final

2024 UK Athletics Championships schedule – Day 2 of 2 – Sunday 30 June

(Times: BST. Subject to change - Correct as of 18 June 2024)

11:30 Race Walk Women Final

11:35 Javelin Throw Men Final

12:10 Race Walk Men Final

12:42 Triple Jump Men Final

12:45 110m Hurdles Men Heats

13:12 High Jump Women Final

13:15 200m Women Heats

13:42 Discus Throw Women Final

13:45 200m Men Heats

14:12 Pole Vault Men Final

14:15 1500m Ambulant Men Final

14:24 400m Wheelchair Women Final

14:31 3000m SC Men Final

14:42 Long Jump Women Final

14:45 5000m Men Final

15:10 110m Hurdles Men Final

15:20 400m Hurdles Women Final

15:30 400m Hurdles Men Final

15:41 Hammer Throw Men Final

15:45 200m Men Final

15:52 Shot Put Women Final

15:55 200m Women Final

16:05 400m Women Final

16:15 800m Women Final

16:25 400m Men Final

16:35 800m Men Final

16:45 1500m Women Final

16:55 1500m Men Final

2024 UK Athletics Championships and British Olympic trials – how to watch

BBC Sport will show coverage of the Olympic Trials at the UK Athletics Championships on 29 and 30 June. Fans can watch live coverage across BBC One, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.