1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games

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V British Empire and Commonwealth Games

Host city	Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Nations participating	24
Athletes participating	662
Events	91
Opening ceremony	30 July
Closing ceremony	7 August
Officially opened by	Earl Alexander of Tunis
Officially closed by	HRH the 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, Canada, from 30 July to 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 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.
(Teams competing for the first time are shown in bold).

Medal table[]

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

  *   Host nation (Canada)

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	British Guiana	0	0	1	1
Totals (18 nations)		92	89	89	270

Medal winners[]

Athletics[]

Bowls[]

Boxing[]

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Flyweight Men	(SCO)	Abe Bekker (NRH)	Warner Batchelor (AUS)
Bantamweight Men	(SCO)	(SRH)	(NGR)
Featherweight Men	Leonard Leisching (SAF)	Malcolm Collins (WAL)	Dave Charnley (ENG)
Lightweight Men	(SRH)	(SCO)	(AUS)
Light Welterweight Men	(CAN)	(SRH)	Des Duguid (AUS)
Welterweight Men	Nicholas Gargano (ENG)	(AUS)	Hendrik van der Linde (SAF)
Light Middleweight Men	Wilf Greaves (CAN)	(NRH)	Bruce Wells (ENG)
Middleweight Men	(SAF)	(NRH)	(CAN)
Light Heavyweight Men	Piet van Vuuren (SAF)	Tony Madigan (AUS)	(CAN)
Heavyweight Men	Brian Harper (ENG)	(CAN)	(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)
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	(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 play offs and were subsequently disqualified.^[2]

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) René Paul Allan Jay Ralph Cooperman	Australia (AUS) Ivan Lund John Fethers Rod Steel	Canada (CAN) Carl Schwende 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 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)	(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	&  (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 four 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, John Macmillan, Alastair Davidson, Maurice Legg & David Glynne-Jones (ENG)	00:08:05
Eight men	Douglas McDonald, , , , Lawrence West, , Robert Wilson, &  (CAN)	00:06:59	Alastair Davidson, Alan Watson, David Glynne-Jones, Geoffrey Page, John Pope, Joe Eldeen, , Maurice Legg & John Macmillan (ENG)	00:07:11

Swimming[]

Men's events[]

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
110 yd freestyle	Jon Henricks (AUS)	56.5	(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	(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	8:56.0	South Africa Dennis Ford Graham Johnston Peter Duncan Billy Steuart	8:56.3
3×110 yd medley relay	Australia 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 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	(SAF)	3:03.3	Margaret Grundy (ENG)	3:04.5
4×110 yd freestyle relay	South Africa Joan Harrison 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	3:52.7	Australia 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	(CAN)	142.7	(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	(WAL)	279
Lightweight – Overall Men	Vern Barberis (AUS)	347	(BAR)	344.5	(SAF)	333
Middleweight – Overall Men	Jim Halliday (ENG)	362.5	(TRI)	342	(BGU)	338
Light Heavyweight – Overall Men	Gerry Gratton (CAN)	403.5	(SAF)	367	Tony 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)	(PAK)	Ian Epton (NRH)
Featherweight Men	Abraham Geldenhuys (SAF)	(ENG)	John Armitt (NZL)
Lightweight Men	Godfrey Pienaar (SAF)	(CAN)	Dick Garrard (AUS)
Welterweight Men	(SAF)	(PAK)	Ray Myland (ENG)
Middleweight Men	Hermanus van Zyl (SAF)	(CAN)	Harry Kendall (ENG)
Light Heavyweight Men	Jacob Theron (SAF)	Bob Steckle (CAN)	(NRH)
Heavyweight Men	Ken Richmond (ENG)	(CAN)

References[]

External links[]

• "Vancouver 1954". Thecgf.com. Commonwealth Games Federation.
• "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.