We look back at British successes in the early European Indoor Championships beginning with 1966 when it was the European Indoor Games

The European Indoor Games began in 1966 and only became a full European Indoor Championships in 1970.

Back in its early days, it was an annual competition – there was no World Indoor Championships – and here we give details of all British winners as well as list other UK medallists for the first 10 years.

1966: Dortmund, March 27 (GB: 2 golds, 2 silver, 2 bronze)

Barrie Kelly 60m: 6.6
Competing in the one-day inaugural Games, Kelly shocked runners with faster times and better pedigree with a British record run.

Only named for the team the Tuesday before, his start did not stand out but his pick-up put him ahead and the 10.5 outdoor performer just about got the better of 10.3 man Heinz Erbstosser and Viktor Kasatkin who shared the winning team which was only 0.1 of a second down on the world record 6.5.

John Whetton 1500m: 3:43.8 
Soviet Olyeg Raitko set a fast pace of 57.3 and 1:57.8 on the 160m circuit but Whetton went ahead two laps (320m) out and he went 15 metres clear at the bell and he stretched the gap to almost three seconds as his time broke Neill Duggan’s British record. Raiko was a distant second in 3:46.7.

This was his 26th indoor win in 28 races.

Other medallists:
Mike Parker 60mH silver (7.8 – 1st E Ottoz 7.7)
Mary Rand 60m bronze (7.4), High jump bronze (1.65), Long jump silver (6.53) (T Schelkanova 6.73)

1967: Prague, March 11/12 (GB: 2, 1, 0)

John Whetton 1500m 3:48.7
Whetton set off towards the back and he was still in the pack at 800m (2:05.3) and 1000m (2:38.2) when he was fifth.

He put a burst in 300 metres out and opened up four metres at the bell from Olympic silver medallist Jozef Odlozil which he increased to the finish as he completed a 54.8 last 400m. Odlozil was second in 3:49.6.

Lynn Davies Long jump 7.85m
A short run-up caused havoc and over 20 of the 36 jumps in the final were fouls as athletes were forced to start on the track, go downhill and then step up onto the board runway.

The 1964 Olympic champion had three no jumps and then he jumped 7.85m in the fourth to equal Leonid Borzakovskiy’s mark to share the lead.

Davies fouled in the fifth round and then when the Soviet athlete fouled in the last round (his fifth failure compared to Davies who was then on four), it meant Davies just needed a valid second jump of any distance in the last round to win on count-back and playing safe he jumped just 6.52m to win the gold!

Other medallists:
Linda Knowles High jump silver 1.73m (T Chenchik 1.76m)

1968: Madrid, March 9-10 (GB: 1, 1, 0)

Gold: John Whetton 1500m 3:50.9
This was billed as his potentially last ever indoor race and he said it was one of his hardest as he won his third successive title.

He got boxed as the leaders jogged through 800m in 2:07.0. He was only able to extricate himself and get a clear run in the last 100m of the 182m laps and a big sprint on the final bend gave him a clear win over Jose Morera (3:51.7). he covered the last 400m in a scintillating 51.2.

Whetton went on to finish a fine fifth in the Olympics despite the altitude and then was a shock winner of the 1969 European outdoor title.

Other medallists:
Bob Frith 50m silver 5.8 (J Hirscht 5.7)

1969, Belgrade, March 8-9 (GB: 2, 2, 5)

Gold: Ian Stewart 3000m 7:55.4 (UK record)
The 20 year-old Birmingham-based Scot ran a faultless race on a 195m track staying in the pack as the leaders passed 1000m in 2:45 ad halfway in 4:04.5. He moved closer to the front at 2000m in 5:20.0. With around 400m to go Lacos Mecser elbowed Stewart as he moved up which roused the Briton into action and he shot away from the field and shocked the opposition and withe a strong last few laps he won by five metres in a British record from Javier Alvarez (7:56.2) and 1967 champion Werner Girke (7:56.8).

Gold: Alan Pascoe 50mH 6.6 (UK record) (main image, above)
It shows his great versatility that a man who would win titles at 400m hurdles in 1974 could be the best in Europe over 50m hurdles.

He had been eliminated from the semi-finals the previous year when he won the first running but the race was later rerun as some had got left at the start and in the rerun, 14 minutes later he missed out by inches when his winning heat time would have been good enough for second in the final.

This time he was extra careful at the start but trailed bullet-starting Werner Trzmiel initially but hurdling superbly, gradually closed the gap and just behind on the fourth and last flight, he had the better run-in and dip and was a clear winner in a British record time which was shared by the German.

Pascoe would go on to win medals in both the 1969 and 1971 European 110m hurdles and he won a 4x400m silver medal in the 1972 Olympics and he won a European and Commonwealth double at 400m hurdles in 1974.

Other medallists:
Walter Wilkinson 1500m bronze 3:46.4 (E Salve 3:45.9)
Lynn Davies Long jump silver 7.76m (K Beer 7.77m)
Bob Frith (pictured below) 50m bronze 5.8 (Z Nowosz 5.8)
Madeline Cobb 50m bronze 6.5 (I Szewinska 6.4)
Rosemary Stirling 400m bronze 54.8 (C Besson 54.0)
Christine Perera 50mH bronze 7.4 (K Balzer 7.2)
Susan Scott Long jump silver 6.18m (I Szewinska 6.38m)

1970, Vienna, March 13/14 (GB: 2, 0, 0)

Ricky Wilde 3000m 7:47.0 (world record – 7:46.85 on electrical timing)
Wilde had been a good runner on track and country prior to this event but had never won a big international race and this was one of the greatest breakthrough performances ever seen by a British athlete.

Javier Alvarez set a solid pace but nothing special looked on as halfway was reached in around 4:03.0 and 2000m was passed in 5:21.0 well outside eight minute tempo.

Wilde knew he had to go wild over the last kilometre to beat the great Harald Norpoth, who was the 1966 champion and the 1964 Olympic silver and 1966 European silver 5000m medallist.

Getting faster and faster the Briton pushed on and the German was the only one able to hold close but gradually a gap opened up on the penultimate lap and he was 10 metres clear at the bell which he stretched further on the final lap to win by over two seconds.

The finish speed was of the highest world class – he covered the last kilometre in 2:26.0 and the last 1500m in 3:44.6. The actual 1500m in Vienna was won in 3:48.8!

The long kick meant he wiped out Bernd Deissner’s world record of 7:47.8.

Norpoth took silver in 7:49.6 and Alvarez the bronze in 7:52.6.

Emiel Puttemans, who would go on to break the world 3000m and 5000m records in the next two years and win Olympic 10,000m silver, was sixth in 7:57.0.

Wilde never ever repeated this sort of world-beating form again or ever make a major Games team outdoors but did run a 13:30.8 5000m in 1972 but the British team was exceptionally strong that year.

Gold: Marilyn Neufville 400m 53.0 (world record)
Only 17 years-old the London schoolgirl was in her first major event and up against Olympic champion Colette Besson and Christel Frese who had set a world record 53.7 in her heat.

World 300m record-setter Karin Lundgren blasted the first lap and the Cambridge Harrier just behind her was through 200m in an unprecedented for her 24.8.

Neufville went past the Swede on the second lap and then had a battle against Frese and just about fought her off. Though her second lap was 28.2, it was sufficient for gold and easily smashed the German’s world record and went a full second quicker than the record at the start of the Championships.

Frese was second in 53.1 with Besson third in 53.6.

Later in the year Neufville would destroy the world outdoor record at the Commonwealth Games with a 51.0 in the colours of Jamaica but would never approach that form ever again.

There were no other medals and the next highest was Colin Campbell’s sixth in the 800m.

1971: Sofia, March 13-14 (GB: 2, 1, 1)

Gold: Peter Stewart 3000m 7:53.6
Stewart, Ian’s elder brother, was under pressure to win Britain’s third gold in a row at this event but was up against Wilfried Scholz who had beaten him in the match against East Germany.

After a slow first 400m (67.2), Scholz began to power on with a string of fast 400m’s of 63.4, 62.0, 62.8 and 62.8 and only Stewart was able to keep in contact. The next two 400ms section both took 62.4 and the relentless pace opened up a second gap on the Briton at the bell (7:23.0).

Stewart had almost settled for second as he dropped 10 metres back on the last lap but as came off the final bend he realised he was closing and he powered past the German to win by five metres courtesy of a 29.6 last 200m. Scholz ran 7:54.4 with third Yuriy Aleksushin 50 metres back in 8:01.2.

Gold: Margaret Beacham 1500m 4:17.2 (world record)
Beacham had had an astonishing season setting a world record in the British Championships (4:20.5) and then against East Germany (4:17.2) but in her first major championships she was up against four world class athletes with much faster outdoor PB’s

She changed her normal front-running tactics and sat in as the leaders ran a modest pace of 69.2 for 400m and 800m in 2;19.6 (five seconds own on her world record pace) and was having trouble extricating herself from the pack to get in a better position. At 1200m she got clear and was right behind Christina Merten at 1200m (3:29.6).

The Briton then powered past the German and showing unprecedented finishing speed she blasted the last 300m in 47.6.

Following her home around four metres back was Lyudmila Bragina (4:17.8), who would smash the world outdoor record four times in 1972 culminating in her Olympic title.

Beacham was never able to repeat this form and never made an outdoor championships team for Britain.

Other medallists:
Phil Lewis 800m silver 1:50.5 (Y Arzhanov 1:48.7)
Rosemary Stirling 800m bronze 2:06.6 (H Falck 2:06.1)

1972 Grenoble, France, March 16-17 (GB: 0, 0, 0)

There were no British medals with the fifth places of Pete Browne (800m in 1:51.3) and Maureen Chitty (long jump 6.26m) being the highest UK placers.

1973: Rotterdam, Netherlands, March 10-11 (GB; 1, 0, 0)

Gold: Verona Elder 400m 53.0
Having been a semi finalist the previous year, the then 19 year-old Miss Bernard showed how much she had improved. She equalled her PB of 54.0 in her heat which she improved to 53.4 in winning her semi final.

In the final, she dominated the race from the off when drawn in the outside lane she accelerated into the lead at the break and then held off the challenge of her rivals on the second lap to finish a few metres up on East Germans Waltraud Dietsch (53.4) and Renate Siebach (53.5).

The time was a bonus as she gained a share of Neufville’s world record.

There were no other UK medals with Brian Green’s 4th place in the 60m (6.74) being the best British result.

1974: Gothenburg March 9-10 (GB: 1, 1, 0)

Geoff Capes Shot 20.95
This was Capes finest victory.

In the first round East German Heinz-Joachim Rothenburg threw a huge 20.87m to add five centimetres to Cape’s European record.

Capes response though was a superb throw of his own and it landed at 20.95m to regain his European record and the distance was well in excess of his UK outdoor record.

The Briton backed this up with a 20.90m second throw and a 20.77m final throw despite it slipping from his fingers.

Rothenburg didn’t improve on his opening throw and no one else bettered 20 metres.

Other medallists:
Andrea Lynch 60m silver 7.17 (R Stecher 7.16)

1975 Katowice, Poland, March 8-9 (GB: 3, 1, 0)

Gold: Ian Stewart 3000m 7:58.6
Six years after his first win, Stewart sat in as the -pace got gradually quicker (2:42.6 and 2:41.4 over the opening two kilometres.

The world international cross-country winner Pekka Paivarinta burst ahead on the last 160m lap and Stewart chased after him and then edged past to win by inches as they shared the winning time. The final kilometre took just 2:34.6.

Boris Kuznetsov was a distant third in 8:01.2.

Gold: Andrea Lynch 60m 7.17
In the previous championships, Lynch lost out by the narrowest of margins to Olympic double sprint champion Renate Stecher and she matched her British record from that race as she got a great start and dominated the race winning clearly from Monika Mayer (7.24) and the world’s greatest ever female athlete Irena Szewinska (7.26).

Gold: Verona Elder 400m 52.68
Up against three Soviets in the four woman final, she started quickly to get control on the tight bends and ran brilliantly to defeat the world record-holder Nadyezda Ilyina (53.21) by around four metres.

Despite the bends, Elder’s time was a British record and the third fastest on record.

Other medallists:
Geoff Capes Shot silver 19.98m (V Stoev 20.29m)