1970 Commonwealth Paraplegic Games

The Third Commonwealth Paraplegic Games was a multi-sport event that was held in Edinburgh, Scotland from 26 July to 1 August 1970. Dubbed the "little games", they followed the 1970 British Commonwealth Games which were held in Edinburgh from 16 to 25 July of that year.

III Commonwealth Paraplegic Games
Host cityEdinburgh, Scotland
Nations participating14
Athletes participating197 (145 Male/52 Female)
Sport(s)11
Events150
Opening ceremony26 July 1970
Closing ceremony1 August 1970
Officially opened byEdward Heath
Main venueMeadowbank Stadium

Background and administration

The chairman of the Organising Committee was Lieutenant-Colonel John Fraser.[1] It was also known as the "little games" and the "Wheelchair Games".[1][2]

Ceremonies

The Games were opened by the British Prime Minister Edward Heath. The opening ceremony was at Meadowbank stadium and was attended by a crowd of 2,000 people.[3] The teams were led in by the hosts of the previous games, Jamaica.[3] On behalf of all the competitors, James Laird, the Scottish team captain, took an oath.[3] A message of support from the Provosts of 28 towns and cities across Scotland was read out, having been relayed from John o' Groats by runners from the Scottish Youth Clubs Association.[3]

The games were closed by James MacKay, Lord Provost of the Edinburgh Corporation.[4]

Participating teams

197 athletes from fourteen Commonwealth countries took part.[3] Countries at this games that had not previously participated were Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Malta and Uganda.[1]

  •  Australia
  •  Canada
  •  England
  •  Hong Kong
  •  India
  •  Jamaica
  •  Malaysia
  •  Malta
  •  New Zealand
  •  Northern Ireland
  •  Scotland
  •  Trinidad and Tobago
  •  Uganda
  •  Wales

Sports

Sports included:[3]

  • Archery
  • Athletics
  • Dartchery
  • Lawn Bowls
  • Pentathlon (Archery, Athletics and Swimming Events)
  • Shooting
  • Swimming
  • Table Tennis
  • Weightlifting (Men Only)
  • Wheelchair Basketball (Men Only)
  • Wheelchair Fencing

Venues
Meadowbank Stadium

The following were the venues for the games:

Venue Sport
Games Village (RAF Turnhouse) Archery, Precision Javelin
Meadowbank Sports Complex All other sports including some archery
Royal Commonwealth Pool Swimming
Lochend Bowling Green Lawn Bowls
Redcraig Shooting Range Shooting

Logistics

An athletes village was located at Turnhouse, with accommodation provided free of charge to the athletes by the Ministry of Defence.[1] The Edinburgh Corporation had supplied fourteen adapted buses, which volunteer drivers used to transport the athletes between venues during the games.[4] Athletics events were held at Meadowbank stadium.[5] Shooting events were held at Redcraigs shooting range in West Lothian.[6] There was some criticism of the lack of day-to-day television coverage from the BBC and ITV broadcasters.[2]

Medal table

The final medal table is:[7]

Nations Gold Silver Bronze Total
 England 48 32 23 103
 Australia 29 31 39 99
 Scotland 27 29 21 77
 Jamaica 25 14 10 49
 New Zealand 12 14 4 30
 Wales 5 6 2 13
 Ireland 1 2 6 9
 Uganda 1 1 0 2
 India 1 0 0 1
Trinidad and Tobago 1 0 0 1
 Malta 0 2 2 4
 Malaysia 0 1 0 1
 Canada 0 0 0 0
 British Hong Kong 0 0 0 0
150 132 107 389

See also

Commonwealth Games hosted in Scotland:

References
  1. "Premier to open games for invalids". Glasgow Herald. 11 April 1970. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  2. Elder, Dorothy-Grace (1 August 1970). "Wheelchair Games attack on the B.B.C." The Herald. p. 14. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  3. "Cheers and praise for the wheel-chair athletes". Glasgow Herald. 27 July 1970. p. 16. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  4. "Wheelchair athletes close Games on a proud note". Glasgow Herald. 3 August 1970. p. 16. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  5. "Paraplegic games: Gold for Mercer". The Herald. 29 July 1970. p. 7. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  6. "Paraplegic games: Three gold medals for Scotland". The Herald. 28 July 1970. p. 6. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  7. "Third Commonwealth Paraplegic Games – Edinburgh, Scotland 1970". paralympicanorak. 6 February 2013. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
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