1934 British Empire Games

2nd British Empire Games
Host city	London, England, United Kingdom
Athletes participating	500
Events	68
Opening ceremony	4 August
Closing ceremony	11 August
Main Stadium	White City Stadium

The 1934 British Empire Games were the second of what is now known as the Commonwealth Games. They were held at the White City Stadium in London, England, United Kingdom from 4–11 August 1934, apart from the cycling at Fallowfield Stadium, Manchester, and the swimming, which took place at the Empire Pool in Wembley. Seventeen national teams took part, including the Irish Free State (the only Games in which they participated, although at the 1930 Games a team representing the whole of Ireland competed).

The 1934 Games had originally been awarded to Johannesburg, South Africa, but were changed to London because of concerns (particularly from Canada) about the way South Africa would treat black and Asian athletes.

Six sports were featured in the Games: athletics, boxing, cycling, lawn bowls, swimming and diving, and wrestling. A highlight of the 1934 Games was the inclusion of events for women in athletics, with careful consideration given not to include events that were considered 'too exhaustive'. The running events were restricted to the short sprints and a shortened 4 x 220 yard relay instead of the 4 x 440 yard relay as per the men's program. Nevertheless this was a breakthrough for women in sport that would one day lead to full recognition and programming for women's athletics on the international stage.

Participating teams

Countries which participated

Teams participating for the first time in bold.

• Australia
• Bermuda
• British Guiana
• Canada
• England
• Hong Kong
• India
• Irish Free State
• Jamaica
• New Zealand
• Newfoundland
• Northern Ireland
• Southern Rhodesia
• Scotland
• South Africa
• Wales

Medals by Country

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	England	29	20	24	73
2	Canada	17	25	9	51
3	Australia	8	4	2	14
4	South Africa	7	10	5	22
5	Scotland	5	4	17	26
6	New Zealand	1	0	2	3
7	British Guiana	1	0	0	1
8	Wales	0	3	3	6
9	Northern Ireland	0	1	2	3
10	Jamaica	0	1	1	2
11	Southern Rhodesia	0	0	2	2
12	India	0	0	1	1
Total		68	68	68	204

Medals by event

Athletics

Main article: Athletics at the 1934 British Empire Games

Boxing

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Flyweight	Patrick Palmer (ENG)	Maxie Berger (CAN)	Jackie Pottinger (WAL)
Bantamweight	Freddy Ryan (ENG)	Albert Barnes (WAL)	Thomas Wells (SCO)
Featherweight	Charles Catterall (SAF)	J.D. Jones (WAL)	William Fulton (RHO)
Lightweight	Leslie Cook (AUS)	Frank Taylor (WAL)	Harry Moy (ENG)
Welterweight	Dave McCleave (ENG)	Dick Barton (SAF)	William Duncan (NIR)
Middleweight	Alf Shawyer (ENG)	Leonard Wadsworth (CAN)	Jimmy Magill (NIR)
Light heavyweight	George Brennan (ENG)	George Holton (SCO)	Robey Leibbrandt (SAF)
Heavyweight	Pat Floyd (ENG)	Jan van Rensburg (SAF)	David Douglas-Hamilton (SCO)

Cycling

Track

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
Time Trial	Dunc Gray (AUS)	1:16.4	Bob McLeod (CAN)	1:18.0	Ted Clayton (SAF)	1:18.4
Sprint 1000 yd	Ernest Higgins (ENG)		Horace Pethybridge (AUS)		Ted Clayton (SAF)
10 mile Scratch	Bob McLeod (CAN)	24:26.2	Ted Clayton (SAF)		William Harvell (ENG)

Diving

Men's events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
3 m springboard	J. Briscoe Ray (ENG)	117.12	Doug Tomalin (ENG)	110.50	Harry Class (CAN)	106.57
10 m platform	Tommy Mather (ENG)	83.83	Doug Tomalin (ENG)	83.63	Louis Marchant (ENG)	70.64

Women's events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
3 m springboard	Judith Moss (CAN)	62.27	Lesley Thompson (AUS)	60.49	Doris Ogilvie (CAN)	57.00
10 m platform	Elizabeth MacReady (ENG)	30.74	Lesley Thompson (AUS)	27.64	Cecily Cousens (ENG)	27.36

Lawn Bowls

All events were for men only.

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Singles	Robert Sprot (SCO)	W. S. MacDonald (CAN)	Andrew Harvey (SAF)
Pairs	Tommy Hills and George Wright (ENG)	W. G. Hutchinson and A. A. Langford (CAN)	Thomas Davies and Stan Weaver (WAL)
Fours	England Fred Biggin Ernie Gudgeon Percy Thomlinson Robert Slater	Northern Ireland Percy Watson Charlie Clawson George Watson Cecil Curran	Scotland William Lowe Charles Tait James Morrison James Brown

Swimming

Men's events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
100 yd freestyle	George Burleigh (CAN)	55.0	George Larson (CAN)	55.6	Noel Crump (NZL)	56.2
440 yd freestyle	Noel Ryan (AUS)	5:03.0	Norman Wainwright (ENG)	5:07.8	Bob Pirie (CAN)	5:14.8
1500 yd freestyle	Noel Ryan (AUS)	18:25.4	Bob Pirie (CAN)	18:28.4	Norman Wainwright (ENG)	18:33.2
100 yd backstroke	Willie Francis (SCO)	01:05.2	John Besford (ENG)	1:05.6	Ben Gazell (CAN)	1:06.6
200 yd breaststroke	Norman Hamilton (SCO)	2:41.4	William McCarty (JAM)	2:42.4	Bill Puddy (CAN)	2:42.8
4×200 yd freestyle relay	Canada George Larson George Burleigh Robert Hooper Bob Pirie	8:40.6	England Mostyn Ffrench-Williams Norman Wainwright Reginald Sutton Bob Leivers	8:52.8	Scotland George Anderson Henry Cunningham Merilees Chassels William Burns	9:23.4
3×110 yd medley relay	Canada Ben Gazell George Burleigh Albert Puddy	3:11.2	Scotland Merilees Chassels Norman Hamilton Willie Francis	3:15.2	England Alan Summers John Besford Mostyn Ffrench-Williams	3:16.0

Women's events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
100 yd freestyle	Phyllis Dewar (CAN)	1:03.0	Irene Pirie (CAN)	1:03.6	Jean McDowell (SCO)	1:05.8
440 yd freestyle	Phyllis Dewar (CAN)	5:45.6	Jenny Maakal (SAF)	5:53.0	Irene Pirie (CAN)	5:54.4
100 yd backstroke	Phyllis Harding (ENG)	1:13.8	Margot Hamilton (SCO)	1:15.0	Valerie Davies (WAL)	1:18.2
200 yd breaststroke	Clare Dennis (AUS)	2:50.2	Phyllis Haslam (CAN)	2:55.4	Margery Hinton (ENG)	2:58.6
4×110 yd freestyle relay	Canada Phyllis Dewar Florence Humble Margaret Hutton Irene Pirie	4:21.8	South Africa Jenny Maakal Enid Hayward Kathleen Russell Molly Ryde	4:34.0	England Edna Hughes Beatrice Wolstenholme Olive Bartle Margery Hinton	4:34.4
3×110 yd medley relay	Canada Margaret Hutton Phyllis Haslam Phyllis Dewar	3:42.0	England Phyllis Harding Vera Kingston Edna Hughes	3:43.0	Scotland Jean McDowell Margot Hamilton Margaret McCullum	3:50.0

Wrestling

All events were for men only.

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Bantamweight	Edward Melrose (SCO)	Ted McKinley (CAN)	Joseph Reid (ENG)
Featherweight	Robert McNab (CAN)	Joe Nelson (ENG)	Murdoch White (SCO)
Lightweight	Dick Garrard (AUS)	G. E. North (ENG)	Howard Thomas (CAN)
Welterweight	Joe Schleimer (CAN)	William Fox (ENG)	Rashid Anwar (IND)
Middleweight	Terry Evans (CAN)	Stanley Bissell (ENG)	Robert Harcus (SCO)
Light heavyweight	Mick Cubbin (SAF)	Bernard Rowe (ENG)	Alex Watt (CAN)
Heavyweight	Jack Knight (AUS)	Pat Meehan (CAN)	Archie Dudgeon (SCO)

External links

• Commonwealth Games Official Site
• 1934 British Empire Games at the official Guernsey site
• 1934 British Empire Games - Australian Commonwealth Games official website