1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games

5th British Empire and Commonwealth Games
Host city Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Nations participating 24
Athletes participating 662
Opening ceremony 30 July
Closing ceremony 7 August
Main Stadium Empire Stadium

The 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Vancouver, in the province of British Columbia in Canada, from 30 July-7 August 1954. These were the first games since the name change from British Empire Games took effect in 1952.

It was at these games that the "Miracle Mile" took place between Roger Bannister and John Landy at Empire Stadium. This was the first time these two (and at that time the only two) sub-four minute mile runners appeared in the same race, and also the first time two runners broke four minutes in the same race. On the same afternoon, Jim Peters, the holder of the world best for the marathon, entered the stadium 17 minutes ahead of his nearest rival, but collapsed on his final lap, and never completed the race.

The games were attended by 24 nations and 662 competitors.

Contents

Participating teams

24 teams were represented at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. Those competing for the first time are shown in bold

Medal table

 Rank  Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1  England 23 24 20 67
2  Australia 20 11 17 48
3  South Africa 16 6 13 35
4  Canada 9 20 14 43
5  New Zealand 7 7 5 19
6  Scotland 6 2 5 13
7  Southern Rhodesia 3 6 3 12
8  Trinidad and Tobago 2 2 0 4
9  Northern Ireland 2 1 0 3
10  Nigeria 1 3 3 7
11  Pakistan 1 3 2 6
12  Wales 1 1 5 7
13  Jamaica 1 0 0 1
14  Barbados 0 1 0 1
 Hong Kong 0 1 0 1
 Uganda 0 1 0 1
17  British Guiana 0 0 1 1
 Northern Rhodesia 0 0 1 1
Total[1] 92 89 89 270

Medal winners

Athletics

Bowls

Event Gold Silver Bronze
Singles Men Ralph Hodges (SRH) James Pirrett (NZL) Arthur Saunders (SAF)
Pairs Men William Rosbotham & Percy Watson (NIR) Sam Gardiner & Richard Williams (CAN) George Budge & John Carswell (SCO)
Fours Men South Africa (SAF) Hong Kong (HKG) Southern Rhodesia (SRH)

Boxing

Event Gold Silver Bronze
Flyweight Men Dick Currie (SCO) Abe Bekker (NRH) Warner Batchelor (AUS)
Bantamweight Men John Smillie (SCO) Gordon Smith (SRH) Abubakar Idi Garuba (NGR)
Featherweight Men Leonard Leisching (SAF) Malcolm Collins (WAL) Dave Charnley (ENG)
Lightweight Men Piet van Staden (SRH) Frank McQuillan (SCO) Brian Cahill (AUS)
Light Welterweight Men Mickey Bergin (CAN) Aubrey Harris (SRH) Des Duguid (AUS)
Welterweight Men Nicholas Gargano (ENG) Rodney Litzow (AUS) Hendrik van der Linde (SAF)
Light Middleweight Men Wilf Greaves (CAN) Freddy Wright (SRH) Bruce Wells (ENG)
Middleweight Men Johannes van der Kolff (SAF) Arthur Crawford (SRH) Marcel Piau (CAN)
Light Heavyweight Men Piet van Vuuren (SAF) Tony Madigan (AUS) Bill Misselbrook (CAN)
Heavyweight Men Brian Harper (ENG) Gerry Buchanan (CAN) George Jenkins (SAF)

Cycling

Track

Event Gold Silver Bronze
Time Trial Men Dick Ploog (AUS) 00:01:12 Keith Harrison (ENG) 00:01:13
Alfred Swift (SAF) 00:01:12
Sprint Men Cyril Peacock (ENG) Tom Shardelow (SAF)
Individual Pursuit Men Norman Sheil (ENG) 00:05:03 Peter Brotherton (ENG) 00:05:09 Robert Fowler (SAF) 00:05:07
10 Miles Scratch Men Lindsay Cocks (AUS) 00:21:59 Keith Harrison (ENG) Don Skene (WAL)

Road

Event Gold Silver Bronze
Road Race Men Eric Thompson (ENG) 02:44:08 John Baird (NZL) NTT Bernard Pusey (ENG) NTT

Fencing

Event Gold Silver Bronze
Foil Men René Paul (ENG) John Fethers (AUS) Allan Jay (ENG)
Foil - Team Men England (ENG) Australia (AUS) Canada (CAN)
Épée Men Ivan Lund (AUS) René Paul (ENG) Carl Schwende (CAN)
Épée - Team Men England (ENG) Canada (CAN) Australia (AUS)
Sabre Men Mike Amberg (ENG) Ralph Cooperman (ENG) John Fethers (AUS)
Sabre- Team Men Canada (CAN) England (ENG) Australia (AUS)
Foil Women Mary Glen-Haig (ENG) Gillian Sheen (ENG) Aileen Harding (WAL)

Rowing

Event Gold Silver Bronze
Single Sculls Men Don Rowlands (NZL) 00:08:28 Sidney Rand (ENG) 00:08:43 Bobby Williams (CAN) 00:08:51
Double Sculls Men Mervyn Wood & Murray Riley (AUS) 00:07:55 Bob Parker & Reg Douglas (NZL) 00:08:05 Donald Guest & Lawrence Stephan (CAN) 00:08:29
Coxless Pairs Men Bob Parker & Reg Douglas (NZL) 00:08:24 Tom Christie & Nicholas Clack (ENG) 00:08:24 Dave Anderson & Geoff Williamson (AUS) 00:08:30
Coxed Fours Men Lionel Robberds, Dave Anderson, Peter Evatt, Geoff Williamson & Mervyn Wood (AUS) 00:07:58 Bruce Culpan, Kerry Ashby, Murray Ashby, Bill Tinnock & Stanley Callagher (NZL) 00:08:04 Geoffrey Page, Roderick Macmillan, Alastair Davidson, Maurice Legg & David Glynne-Jones (ENG) 00:08:05
Eights Men Canada (CAN) 00:06:59 England (ENG) 00:07:11

Swimming

Men's events

Event Gold Silver Bronze
110 yd freestyle  Jon Henricks (AUS) 56.5  Cyrus Weld (AUS) 58.5  Rex Aubrey (AUS) 58.7
440 yd freestyle  Gary Chapman (AUS) 4:39.8  Jack Wardrop (SCO) 4:41.5 Graham Johnston (SAF) 4:43.3
1650 yd freestyle Graham Johnston (SAF) 19:01.4 Peter Duncan (SAF) 19:22.1  Gary Chapman (AUS) 19:28.4
110 yd backstroke  John Brockway (WAL) 1:06.5  Lincoln Hurring (NZL) 1:06.9  Cyrus Weld (AUS) 1:08.6
220 yd breaststroke  Jack Doms (NZL) 2:52.6  Peter Jervis (ENG) 2:52.6  Alan Hime (ENG) 2:52.8
4×220 yd freestyle relay  Australia
David Hawkins
Gary Chapman
Jon Henricks
Rex Aubrey
8:47.6  Canada
Allan Gilchrist
George Park
Gerald McNamee
Ted Simpson
8:56.0  South Africa
Dennis Ford
Graham Johnston
Peter Duncan
William Steuart
8:56.3
3×110 yd medley relay  Australia
Cyrus James Weld
David Hawkins
Jon Henricks
3:22.0  New Zealand
Frederick Lucas
Jack Doms
Lincoln Hurring
3:26.6  Scotland
Jack Wardrop
John Service
Robert Wardrop
3:27.3

Women's events

Event Gold Silver Bronze
110 yd freestyle  Lorraine Crapp (AUS) 1:05.8  Virginia Grant (CAN) 1:06.3 Joan Harrison (SAF) 1:08.2
440 yd freestyle  Lorraine Crapp (AUS) 5:11.4  Gladys Pristley (CAN) 5:19.6  Margaret Girvan (SCO) 5:21.4
110 yd backstroke Joan Harrison (SAF) 1:15.2  Pat Symons (ENG) 1:17.4  Jean Stewart (NZL) 1:17.5
220 yd breaststroke  Elenor Gordon (SCO) 2:59.2 Mary Morgan (SAF) 3:03.3  Margaret Grundy (ENG) 3:04.5
4×110 yd freestyle relay  South Africa
Felicity Loveday
Joan Harrison
Machduldt Petzer
Natalie Myburgh
4:33.9  Canada
Beth Whittall
Gladys Priestley
Helen Stewart
Virginia Grant
4:37.0  England
Diana Wilkinson
Fearne Ewart
Jean Botham
Valerie Nares-Pillow
4:41.8
3×110 yd medley relay  Scotland
Helen Gordon
Margaret McDowell
Margaret Girvan
3:51.0  South Africa
Joan Harrison
Machduldt Petzer
Mary Morgan
3:52.7  Australia
Jann Grier
Judith Knight
Lorraine Crapp
3:55.6

Diving

Event Gold Silver Bronze
3 Metres Springboard Diving Men Peter Heatly (SCO) 146.76 Tony Turner (ENG) 145.27 Jack Stewart (NZL) 144.98
10 Metres Highboard [Platform] Diving Men Bill Patrick (CAN) 142.7 Kevin Newell (AUS) 142.06 Peter Heatly (SCO) 141.32
3 Metres Springboard Diving Women Ann Long (ENG) 128.26 Barbara McAulay (AUS) 127.74 Irene MacDonald (CAN) 126.19
10 Metres Highboard [Platform] Diving Women Barbara McAulay (AUS) 86.55 Eunice Miller (ENG) 79.86 Ann Long (ENG) 79.53

Weightlifting

Event Gold Silver Bronze
Bantamweight - Overall Men Maurice Megennis (ENG) 281 Frank Cope (ENG) 276.5 Keith Caple (AUS) 274
Featherweight - Overall Men Rodney Wilkes (TRI) 313 Jules Sylvain (CAN) 297 Ron Jenkins (WAL) 279
Lightweight - Overall Men Vern Barberis (AUS) 347 George Nicholls (BAR) 344.5 Jan Pieterse (SAF) 333
Middleweight - Overall Men Jim Halliday (ENG) 362.5 Lionel de Freitas (TRI) 342 Julius Park (BGU) 338
Light Heavyweight - Overall Men Gerry Gratton (CAN) 403.5 Louis Greeff (SAF) 367 Bruce George (NZL) 353.5
Middle Heavyweight - Overall Men Keevil Daly (CAN) 399 Lennox Kilgour (TRI) 392 Joseph Barnett (ENG) 376.5
Heavyweight - Overall Men Doug Hepburn (CAN) 471.5 Dave Baillie (CAN) 453.5 Harold Cleghorn (NZL) 421.5

Wrestling

Event Gold Silver Bronze
Flyweight Men Louis Baise (SAF) Fred Flannery (AUS) Muhammad Din (PAK)
Bantamweight Men Geoff Jameson (AUS) Muhammad Amin (PAK) Ian Epton (NRH)
Featherweight Men Abraham Geldenhuys (SAF) Herb Hall (ENG) John Armitt (NZL)
Lightweight Men Godfrey Pienaar (SAF) Ruby Leobovitch (CAN) Dick Garrard (AUS)
Welterweight Men Nick Loubser (SAF) Abdul Rashid (PAK) Ray Myland (ENG)
Middleweight Men Hermanus van Zyl (SAF) Jim Christie (CAN) Harry Kendall (ENG)
Light Heavyweight Men Jacob Theron (SAF) Bob Steckle (CAN) Dan van Staden (NRH)
Heavyweight Men Ken Richmond (ENG) Keith Maltman (CAN)

Footnotes

  1. ^ "Past Commonwealth Games". Commonwealth Games Federation. http://www.thecgf.com/games/games_index.asp. Retrieved 2008-12-11. 

External links