1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games

5th 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
Main venue	Empire Stadium

The 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Vancouver, British Columbia, 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.

Participating teams

Countries which participated

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

Australia Bahamas Barbados Bermuda British Guiana Canada England Fiji

Gold Coast Hong Kong India Jamaica Kenya New Zealand Nigeria Northern Ireland

Northern Rhodesia Pakistan Scotland South Africa Southern Rhodesia Trinidad and Tobago Uganda Wales

Medal table

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

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		92	89	89	270

Medal winners

Athletics

Main article: Athletics at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games

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)
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	Daryl MacDonald, Glen Smith, H.J. Zloklikovits, K.J. Drummond, Lawrence West, Ray Sierpina, Robert Wilson, Thomas Toynbee & Thomas Harris (CAN)	00:06:59	Alastair Davidson, Alan Watson, David Glynne-Jones, Geoffrey Page, John Pope, Joseph Eldeen, M.G.C. Savage, Maurice Legg & Roderick Macmillan (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 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 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)

External links

• Commonwealth Games Official Site
• 1954 British Empire & Commonwealth Games at the official Guernsey site
• 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games – Australian Commonwealth Games official website
• British Empire and Commonwealth Games, a National Film Board of Canada documentary about the 1954 Games