1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games

V British Empire and Commonwealth Games
Host city	Vancouver, Canada
Nations	24
Athletes	662
Events	91
Opening	30 July 1954
Closing	7 August 1954
Opened by	Earl Alexander of Tunis
Closed by	Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Athlete's Oath	Bill Parnell
Main venue	Empire Stadium
	← IV VI →

The 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Vancouver, British Columbia, from 30 July to 7 August 1954. This was the fifth edition of the event that would eventually become known as the Commonwealth Games, the second post-war Games, the second Canadian Games after the inaugural event in Hamilton and the first event 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 time 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.^[1]

Venues

Opening and Closing Ceremonies, Athletics: Empire Stadium, Hastings Park
Bowls: West Point Grey Club, New West Club
Boxing: Exhibition Forum, Pacific National Exhibition
Cycling: Empire Oval (Track), 1155 East Broadway (Road)
Fencing: Lord Byng School, West Point Grey
Rowing: Vedder Canal, Chilliwack
Swimming and Diving: Empire Pool, University of British Columbia, West Point Grey
Weightlifting: Exhibition Gardens, Pacific National Exhibition
Wrestling: Kerrisdale Arena
Athletes' Village: University of British Columbia, West Point Grey

Participating teams

Countries that participated

24 teams were represented at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games.

Australia
Bahamas: first appearance
Barbados: first appearance
Bermuda
British Guiana
Canada (host)
England
Fiji
Gold Coast: first appearance
Hong Kong
India
Jamaica
Kenya: first appearance
New Zealand
Nigeria
Northern Ireland
Northern Rhodesia: first appearance
Pakistan: first appearance
Scotland
South Africa
Southern Rhodesia
Trinidad and Tobago
Uganda: first appearance
Wales

Medal table

Statue in Vancouver commemorating the "Miracle Mile" between Roger Bannister and John Landy

Medals won by nation, ranked and sortable
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	2	2	1	5
8	Trinidad and Tobago	2	2	0	4
9	Northern Ireland	2	1	0	3
10	Northern Rhodesia	1	4	3	8
11	Nigeria	1	3	3	7
12	Pakistan	1	3	2	6
13	Wales	1	1	5	7
14	Jamaica	1	0	0	1
15	Barbados	0	1	0	1
	Hong Kong	0	1	0	1
	Uganda	0	1	0	1
18	Guiana	0	0	1	1
Totals (18 entries)		92	89	89	270

Medal winners

Athletics

Bowls

Boxing

Men's boxing medallists by weight division
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 (NRH)	Bruce Wells (ENG)
Middleweight Men	Johannes van der Kolff (SAF)	Arthur Crawford (NRH)	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

Men's track cycling medallists by event, with times
Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
Time Trial Men	Dick Ploog (AUS)	00:01:12			Keith Harrison (ENG)	00:01:13
Time Trial Men	Alfred Swift (SAF)	00:01:12			Keith Harrison (ENG)	00:01:13
Sprint Men	Cyril Peacock (ENG)		+not awarded		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)

+ Lionel Cox did not receive a silver medal, the Australian cycling team refused to participate in the gold and bronze medal playoffs and were subsequently disqualified.^[2]

Road

Men's road cycling medallists with times
Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
Road Race Men	Eric Thompson (ENG)	02:44:08	John Baird (NZL)	NTT	Bernard Pusey (ENG)	NTT

Fencing

Fencing medallists by event
Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Foil Men	René Paul (ENG)	John Fethers (AUS)	Allan Jay (ENG)
Foil – Team Men	England (ENG) René Paul Allan Jay Ralph Cooperman	Australia (AUS) Ivan Lund John Fethers Rod Steel	Canada (CAN) Carl Schwende J.A. Howard Roland Asselin
Épée Men	Ivan Lund (AUS)	René Paul (ENG)	Carl Schwende (CAN)
Épée – Team Men	England (ENG) René Paul Allan Jay Charles de Beaumont	Canada (CAN) Carl Schwende Edward Brooke Roland Asselin	Australia (AUS) Ivan Lund John Fethers Laurence Harding-Smith
Sabre Men	Mike Amberg (ENG)	Ralph Cooperman (ENG)	John Fethers (AUS)
Sabre- Team Men	Canada (CAN) Carl Schwende Leslie Krasa Roland Asselin	England (ENG) Michael Amberg William Beatley Ralph Cooperman	Australia (AUS) Ivan Lund John Fethers Rod Steel Laurence Harding-Smith
Foil Women	Mary Glen-Haig (ENG)	Gillian Sheen (ENG)	Aileen Harding (WAL)

Rowing

Men's rowing medallists by event with times
Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
Men's single sculls	Don Rowlands (NZL)	8:28	Sidney Rand (ENG)	8:43	Bobby Williams (CAN)	8:51
Men's double sculls	Mervyn Wood & Murray Riley (AUS)	7:55	Bob Parker & Reg Douglas (NZL)	8:05	Donald Guest & Lawrence Stephan (CAN)	8:29
Men's coxless pair	Bob Parker & Reg Douglas (NZL)	8:24	Tom Christie & Nicholas Clack (ENG)	8:24	Dave Anderson & Geoff Williamson (AUS)	8:30
Men's coxed four	Lionel Robberds, Dave Anderson, Peter Evatt, Geoff Williamson & Mervyn Wood (AUS)	7:58	Bruce Culpan, Kerry Ashby, Murray Ashby, Bill Tinnock & Stanley Callagher (NZL)	8:04	Geoffrey Page, John Macmillan, Alastair Davidson, Maurice Legg & David Glynne-Jones (ENG)	8:05
Men's eight	Douglas McDonald, Glen Smith, H.J. Zloklikovits, K.J. Drummond, Lawrence West, Ray Sierpina, Robert Wilson, Thomas Toynbee & Thomas Harris (CAN)	6:59	Alastair Davidson, Alan Watson, David Glynne-Jones, Geoffrey Page, John Pope, Joe Eldeen, M.G.C. Savage, Maurice Legg & John Macmillan (ENG)	7:11

Swimming

Men's events

Men's swimming medallists by event, with times
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 Allen Gilchrist George Park Gerald McNamee Ted Simpson	8:56.0	South Africa Dennis Ford Graham Johnston Peter Duncan Billy Steuart	8:56.3
3×110 yd medley relay	Australia Cyrus 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

Women's swimming medallists by event, with times
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 Priestley (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 Daphne 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

Medallists in diving, by event, with points score
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

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

Wrestling

Wrestling medallists by division
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)

References

^ "Commonwealth Games Federation – 1954 Commonwealth Games – Introduction". thecgf.com. Archived from the original on 15 June 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
^ "AUSSIES BOYCOTT GAMES CYCLING Thu 5 Aug 1954 Page 1". Daily Advertiser (Wagga Wagga, NSW). 1954.

External links

"Vancouver 1954". Commonwealthsport.com. Commonwealth Sport.
"Results and Medalists—1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games". Thecgf.com. Commonwealth Games Federation.
British Empire and Commonwealth Games, a National Film Board of Canada documentary about the 1954 Games.

Preceded by Auckland	*British Empire and Commonwealth Games* Vancouver V British Empire and Commonwealth Games	Succeeded by Cardiff

[1] "Commonwealth Games Federation – 1954 Commonwealth Games – Introduction". thecgf.com. Archived from the original on 15 June 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2017.

[2] "AUSSIES BOYCOTT GAMES CYCLING Thu 5 Aug 1954 Page 1". Daily Advertiser (Wagga Wagga, NSW). 1954.

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