| 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 |
24 teams were represented at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. Those competing for the first time are shown in bold
| 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 | |
| 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) | |||
| 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) |
| 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) | ||
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze | ||||
| Road Race | Men | Eric Thompson (ENG) | 02:44:08 | John Baird (NZL) | NTT | Bernard Pusey (ENG) | NTT |
| 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) | |||
| 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 | ||
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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) |
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