1934 British Empire Games

The 1934 British Empire Games were the second edition of what is now known as the Commonwealth Games, held in England, from 4–11 August 1934. The host city was London, with the main venue at Wembley Park, although the track cycling events were in Manchester. Seventeen national teams took part, including the Irish Free State (the only Games in which they participated, although an all-Ireland team competed at the 1930 Games).

II British Empire Games
Host cityLondon, England
Nations17
Athletes500
Events68
Opening4 August 1934
Closing11 August 1934
Opened byGeorge V
Athlete's OathRobert Howland
Main venueWhite City Stadium
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The 1934 Games had been originally awarded to Johannesburg, South Africa, but the change of venue to London was made due to concerns regarding the treatment of black and Asian athletes by South African officials and fans.[1]

Six sports were featured in the Games: athletics in White City Stadium; boxing, wrestling, and aquatics (swimming and diving) in the Empire Pool and Arena, Wembley; cycling in Fallowfield Stadium, Manchester; and lawn bowls at Paddington and Temple.[2] Events for women athletes included a debut in athletics; the previous games had women's events only in swimming and diving.

Participating teams

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Countries that participated

(Teams participating for the first time in bold).

*The affiliation of Irish athletes at these games is unclear, see Ireland at the British Empire Games § 1934 games

Medals by country

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RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1  England*29202473
2  Canada1725951
3  Australia84214
4  South Africa710522
5  Scotland541726
6  New Zealand1023
7  British Guiana1001
8  Wales0336
9  Northern Ireland0123
10  Jamaica0112
11  Southern Rhodesia0022
12  India0011
Totals (12 entries)686868204

Medals by event

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Athletics

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Boxing

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Event Gold Silver Bronze
Flyweight   Pat Palmer (ENG)   Maxie Berger (CAN)   Jackie Pottinger (WAL)
Bantamweight   Eddie Ryan (ENG)   Albert Barnes (WAL)   Thomas Wells (SCO)
Featherweight   Charles Catterall (SAF)   J. D. Jones (WAL)   William Fulton (RHO)
Lightweight   Leonard 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

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Track

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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

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Men's events

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Event Gold Silver Bronze
3 m springboard   John Brisco 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

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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   Dot Macready (ENG) 30.74   Lesley Thompson (AUS) 27.64   Cecily Cousens (ENG) 27.36

Lawn bowls

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All events were for men only.

Event Gold Silver Bronze
Singles (details)   Robert Sprot (SCO)   William McDonald (CAN)   Charles Abbott (SAF)
Pairs (details)   Tommy Hills
and George Wright (ENG)
  William Hutchinson
and Alfred Langford (CAN)
  Thomas Davies
and Stan Weaver (WAL)
Rinks (details)   England
Fred Biggin
Ernie Gudgeon
Percy Tomlinson
Robert Slater
  Northern Ireland
Percy Watson
Charlie Clawson
George Watson
Cecil Curran
  Scotland
William Lowe
Charles Tait
James Morrison
James Brown

Swimming

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Men's

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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
Arthur Summers
John Besford
Mostyn Ffrench-Williams
3:16.0

Women's

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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

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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)[3]
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)

References

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  1. ^ "London 1934". Commonwealth Games Federation. Archived from the original on 7 April 2018. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  2. ^ "BODY- LINE BARRED – On the greens at Paddington and Temple take place the less strenuous contest of Empire Games". Pathé News. 9 August 1934. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  3. ^ "Wrestling". The Times. 10 August 1934. p. 6 – via Times Digital Archives.
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Preceded by
Hamilton
British Empire Games
London
II British Empire Games
Succeeded by
Sydney