Athletics at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games

At the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, the athletics events were held at Empire Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in July and August 1954. A total of 29 athletics events were contested at the Games, 20 by men and 9 by women. A total of twenty-four Games records were set or improved over the competition, leaving just five previous best marks untouched. The 1954 edition saw the introduction of the shot put and discus throw for women, as well as the first 4×110 yards relay for women (which replaced a medley relay).[1]

Athletics at the 5th British Empire and Commonwealth Games
A sculpture of Bannister and Landy was placed outside of the Empire Stadium to commemorate the Miracle Mile.
Dates31 July – 7 August 1954
Host cityVancouver, British Columbia, Canada
VenueEmpire Stadium
LevelSenior
Events29
Participation249 athletes from
23 nations


The men's mile run competition – dubbed The Miracle Mile – represented a landmark in the history of the Four-minute mile. Roger Bannister had been the first to have broken the barrier earlier that year, but Landy followed soon after with sub-4 minute (and world record time) of his own. The games offered the first time that two sub-4 minute runners had duelled against each other. Landy led until the final curve, at which point he turned to gauge Bannister's position. Bannister took the opportunity to overtake him on his blind side and he edged out a victory over Landy with a time of 3:58.8 minutes. Landy also ran under four minutes, representing the first time two men had done so in the same race.[2] A sculpture of the race-deciding moment was later placed outside the stadium in memory of the duel.

Jim Peters, then the world record holder in the marathon, entered the stadium some seventeen minutes ahead of his nearest rival in the Games marathon. He collapsed in his final lap of the stadium, however, and did not finish the race (which was won by Joe McGhee).[3]

A new Commonwealth record for the high jump was established at the games by Emmanuel Ifeajuna of Nigeria, who became the first Commonwealth athlete to clear six feet and eight inches.[4] Ifeajuna was also the first black African to win a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games.[5]

Medal summary

Men

Event Gold Silver Bronze
100 yards
 Mike Agostini (TRI)9.6 =GR  Don McFarlane (CAN)9.7  Hector Hogan (AUS)9.7
220 yards
 Don Jowett (NZL)21.5  Brian Shenton (ENG)21.5  Ken Jones (WAL)21.9
440 yards
 Kevan Gosper (AUS)47.2 GR  Don Jowett (NZL)47.4  Terry Tobacco (CAN)47.8
880 yards
 Derek Johnson (ENG)1:50.7 GR  Brian Hewson (ENG)1:51.2  Ian Boyd (ENG)1:51.9
1 mile
 Roger Bannister (ENG)3:58.8 GR  John Landy (AUS)3:59.6  Rich Ferguson (CAN)4:04.6
3 miles
 Chris Chataway (ENG)13:35.2 GR  Fred Green (ENG)13:37.2  Frank Sando (ENG)13:37.4
6 miles
 Peter Driver (ENG)29:09.4 GR  Frank Sando (ENG)29:10.0  Jim Peters (ENG)29:20.0
Marathon
 Joe McGhee (SCO)2:39:36  Jack Mekler (SAF)2:40:57  Johannes Barnard (SAF)2:51:50
120 yards hurdles
 Keith Gardner (JAM)14.2 GR  Chris Higham (ENG)14.9  Norman Williams (CAN)14.9
440 yards hurdles
 David Lean (AUS)52.4 GR  Harry Kane (ENG)53.3  Bob Shaw (WAL)53.3
4 × 110 yards relay
 Canada (CAN)
Bruce Springbett
Don Stonehouse
Harry Nelson
Don McFarlane
41.3 GR  Nigeria (NGR)
Muslim Arogundade
Abdul Karim Amu
Karim Olowu
Edward Ajado
41.3  Australia (AUS)
David Lean
Hector Hogan
Brian Oliver
Kevan Gosper
41.7
4 × 440 yards relay
 England (ENG)
Peter Higgins
Alan Dick
Peter Fryer
Derek Johnson
3:11.2 GR  Canada (CAN)
Laird Sloan
Douglas Clement
Joe Foreman
Terry Tobacco
3:11.6  Australia (AUS)
Brian Oliver
Don MacMillan
David Lean
Kevan Gosper
3:16.0
High jump
 Emmanuel Ifeajuna (NGR)2.03 m GR  Patrick Etolu (UGA)1.99 m NR  Nafiu Osagie (NGR)1.99 m
Pole vault
 Geoff Elliott (ENG)4.26 m GR  Ron Miller (CAN)4.20 m  Andries Burger (SAF)4.13 m
Long jump
 Ken Wilmshurst (ENG)7.54 m GR  Karim Olowu (NGR)7.39 m  Sylvanus Williams (NGR)7.22 m
Triple jump
 Ken Wilmshurst (ENG)15.28 m  Peter Esiri (NGR)15.25 m  Brian Oliver (AUS)15.14 m
Shot put
 John Savidge (ENG)16.77 m GR  John Pavelich (CAN)14.95 m  Stephanus du Plessis (SAF)14.93 m
Discus throw
 Stephanus du Plessis (SAF)51.70 m GR  Roy Pella (CAN)49.53 m  Mark Pharaoh (ENG)47.84 m
Hammer throw
 Muhammad Iqbal (PAK)55.37 m GR  Jakobus Dreyer (SAF)54.75 m  Ewan Douglas (SCO)52.81 m
Javelin throw
 James Achurch (AUS)68.52 m GR  Muhammad Nawaz (PAK)68.09 m  Jalal Khan (PAK)67.50 m

Women

Event Gold Silver Bronze
100 yards
 Marjorie Jackson-Nelson (AUS)10.7w  Winsome Cripps (AUS)10.8w  Edna Maskell (NRH)10.8w
220 yards
 Marjorie Jackson-Nelson (AUS)24.0 GR  Winsome Cripps (AUS)24.5  Shirley Hampton (ENG)25.0
80 metres hurdles
(wind: +4.5 m/s)
 Edna Maskell (NRH)10.9w  Gwen Hobbins (CAN)11.2w  Jean Desforges (ENG)11.2w
4 × 110 yards relay
 Australia (AUS)
Gwen Wallace
Winsome Cripps
Nancy Fogarty
Marjorie Jackson
46.8 GR  England (ENG)
Anne Pashley
Heather Armitage
Shirley Burgess
Shirley Hampton
46.9  Canada (CAN)
Margery Squires
Dorothy Kozak
Annabelle Murray
Geraldine Bemister
47.8
High jump
 Thelma Hopkins (NIR)1.67 m GR  Dorothy Tyler (ENG)1.60 m  Alice Whitty (CAN)1.60 m
Long jump
 Yvette Williams (NZL)6.08 m GR  Thelma Hopkins (NIR)5.84 m  Jean Desforges (ENG)5.84 m
Shot put
 Yvette Williams (NZL)13.96 m GR  Jackie MacDonald (CAN)12.98 m  Magdalena Swanepoel (SAF)12.81 m
Discus throw
 Yvette Williams (NZL)45.01 m GR  Suzanne Allday (ENG)40.02 m  Marie Dupree (CAN)38.66 m
Javelin throw
 Magdalena Swanepoel (SAF)43.83 m GR  Pearl Fisher (NRH)41.97 m  Shirley Couzens (CAN)38.98 m

Medal table

Roger Bannister's win in the mile was a highlight of his career and of Commonwealth Games history.
Triple sprint gold medallist Marjorie Nelson later became Governor of South Australia.

  *   Host nation (Canada)

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 England (ENG)99725
2 Australia (AUS)63413
3 New Zealand (NZL)4105
4 South Africa (SAF)2248
5 Canada (CAN)*17715
6 Nigeria (NGR)1326
7 Northern Rhodesia (NRH)1113
 Pakistan (PAK)1113
9 Northern Ireland (NIR)1102
10 Scotland (SCO)1012
11 Jamaica (JAM)1001
 Trinidad and Tobago (TRI)1001
13 Uganda (UGA)0101
14 Wales (WAL)0022
Totals (14 nations)29292987

Participating nations

References

  1. Commonwealth Games Medallists - Women. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2010-08-30.
  2. Bryant, John (2005). 3:59.4: The Quest to Break the Four Minute Mile. Arrow Books Ltd. ISBN 978-0-09-946908-7.
  3. Great Sporting Moments: Athletics. The Independent. Retrieved on 2010-08-30.
  4. John de St. Jorre, The Nigerian Civil War (Hodder and Stoughton Publishing: London, 1972) p. 31.
  5. Oliver, Brian (13 July 2014). "Emmanuel Ifeajuna: Commonwealth Games gold to facing a firing squad". theguardian.com. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
Results
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