British Empire and Commonwealth Games 1954 / Athletics

Roger Bannister overtakes John Landy (right) in the mile , bronze statue in Vancouver

At the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Vancouver in 1954 , a total of 29 competitions were held in athletics between July 31 and August 7, 20 of which were for men and nine for women. The venue was the Empire Stadium .

Men

100 yard run

space	athlete	country	Time (s)
1	Mike Agostini	TRI	9.6
2	Don McFarlane	CAN	9.7
3	Hector Hogan	OUT	9.7
4th	Edward Ajado	NGR	9.7
5	Harry Nelson	CAN	9.7
6th	Ken Jones	WHALE	9.8

Finale: July 31

220 yards run

space	athlete	country	Time (s)
1	Don Jowett	NZL	21.5
2	Brian Shenton	CLOSELY	21.5
3	Ken Jones	WHALE	21.9
4th	Harry Nelson	CAN	22.0
5	Hector Hogan	OUT	22.0
6th	George Ellis	CLOSELY	22.2

Final: August 5th

440 yards run

space	athlete	country	Time (s)
1	Kevan Gosper	OUT	47.2
2	Don Jowett	NZL	47.4
3	Terry Tobacco	CAN	47.8
4th	Peter Fryer	CLOSELY	48.4
5	James Rogers	GUY	48.5
6th	Alan Dick	CLOSELY	48.6

Final: August 7th

880 yards run

space	athlete	country	Time (min)
1	Derek Johnson	CLOSELY	1: 50.7
2	Brian Hewson	CLOSELY	1: 51.2
3	Ian Boyd	CLOSELY	1: 51.9
4th	Bill Baillie	NZL	1: 52.5
5	Rich Ferguson	CAN	1: 52.7
6th	James Hamilton	SCO	1: 52.7
7th	Bill Parnell	CAN	1: 53.8
8th	Doug Clement	CAN	1: 54.9

Final: August 3rd

Mile run

space	athlete	country	Time (min)
1	Roger Bannister	CLOSELY	3: 58.8
2	John Landy	OUT	3: 59.6
3	Rich Ferguson	CAN	4: 04.6
4th	Vic Milligan	NIR	4: 05.0
5	Murray Halberg	NZL	4: 07.2
6th	Ian Boyd	CLOSELY	4: 07.2
7th	Bill Baillie	NZL	4: 11.0
	David Law	CLOSELY	DNF

Final: August 7th

The highlight of the games is this competition, in which Bannister and Landy, the only athletes who had stayed under four minutes before, competed against each other for the first time. Only Bannister was able to follow Landy, who had already taken the lead in the first lap. The race reached its dramatic climax when Landy looked back over his left shoulder on the last corner and Bannister passed him on the right at the same time.

Three mile run

space	athlete	country	Time (min)
1	Chris Chataway	CLOSELY	13: 35.2
2	Fred Green	CLOSELY	13: 37.2
3	Frank Sando	CLOSELY	13: 37.4
4th	Nyandika Maiyoro	KEN	13: 43.8
5	Peter Driver	CLOSELY	13: 47.0
6th	Geoff Warren	OUT	13: 50.0
7th	Ian Binnie	SCO	13: 59.6
8th	Lawrence King	NZL	14: 03.4

3rd August

Six mile run

space	athlete	country	Time (min)
1	Peter Driver	CLOSELY	29: 09.4
2	Frank Sando	CLOSELY	29: 10.0
3	Jim Peters	CLOSELY	29: 20.0
4th	Geoff Warren	OUT	29: 42.6
5	Stan Cox	CLOSELY	30: 11.4
6th	Ian Binnie	SCO	30: 15.2
7th	Lazaro Chepkwony	KEN	30: 16.2
8th	Allan Lawrence	OUT	30: 18.8

July 31

marathon

space	athlete	country	Time (h)
1	Joe McGhee	SCO	2:39:36
2	Jackie Mekler	SAF	2:40:57
3	Jan Barnard	SAF	2:51:50
4th	Barry Lush	CAN	2:52:48
5	George Hillier	CAN	2:58:44
6th	Bob Crossen	NIR	3:00:13

August 7th

In the humid heat, the Englishman Jim Peters reached the stadium with a 17 minute lead, but could hardly stand on his feet completely dehydrated. After spending eleven minutes on the first half of the stadium round, he collapsed and was taken to a hospital on a stretcher. From 16 starters only six reached the finish.

120 yard hurdles

space	athlete	country	Time (s)
1	Keith Gardner	JAM	14.2
2	Chris Higham	CLOSELY	14.9
3	Norman Williams	CAN	14.9
4th	Jack Parker	CLOSELY	15.0
5	David Lean	OUT	15.1
	Ken Doubleday	OUT	DNF

Final: August 5th

440 yard hurdles

space	athlete	country	Time (s)
1	David Lean	OUT	52.4
2	Harry Kane	CLOSELY	53.3
3	Bob Shaw	WHALE	53.3
4th	David Fleming	NZL	53.9
5	Murray Gaziuk	CAN	55.5
6th	Ken Wilmshurst	CLOSELY	56.3

Final: August 3rd

4-by-110-yard relay

space	country	Athletes	Time (s)
1	Canada	Don Stonehouse Bruce Springbett Harry Nelson Don McFarlane	41.3
2	Nigeria	Karim Olowu Abdul Amu Edward Ajado Muslim Aremu Arogundade	41.3
3	Australia	Hector Hogan Brian Oliver Kevan Gosper David Lean	41.7
4th	England	George Ellis Kenneth Box Brian Shenton Alan Lillington	41.9
5	Pakistan	Muhammad Aslam Abdul Aziz Muhammad Sharif Butt Abdul Khaliq	42.0
6th	Jamaica	Leslie Laing Keith Gardner Frank Hall Ronald Horsham

4 by 440 yards relay

space	country	Athletes	Time (min)
1	England	Peter Higgins Alan Dick Peter Fryer Derek Johnson	3: 11.2
2	Canada	Laird Sloan Doug Clement Joe Foreman Terry Tobacco	3: 11.6
3	Australia	Brian Oliver Don MacMillan David Lean Kevan Gosper	3: 16.0
4th	Kenya	Kibet Boit Arap Kiptalam Keter Korigo Barno Musembi Mbathi	3: 17.6
5	Gold coast	John Quartey Edward Nyarko Henry Ofori-Nyarko Richard Ampadu	3: 18.6
6th	Jamaica	Louis Gooden Richard Estick Keith Gardner Leslie Laing	3: 19.0

high jump

space	athlete	country	Height (m)
1	Emmanuel Ifeajuna	NGR	2.03
2	Patrick Etolu	UGA	1.99
3	Nafiu Osagie	NGR	1.99
4th	Peter Wells	NZL	1.95
5	Doug Stuart	OUT	1.93
6th	John Vernon	OUT	1.93
7th	Derek Cox	CLOSELY	1.88
8th	Kiprono Maritime	KEN	1.88

July 31

Pole vault

space	athlete	country	Height (m)
1	Geoff Elliott	CLOSELY	4.26
2	Ron Miller	CAN	4.20
3	Andries Burger	SAF	4.13
4th	Bob Adams	CAN	3.96
5	Mervyn Richards	NZL	3.96
6th	Orland Anderson	CAN	3.96
7th	Bruce Peever	OUT	3.81
8th	Peter Denton	OUT	3.81

August 7th

Long jump

space	athlete	country	Width (m)
1	Ken Wilmshurst	CLOSELY	7.54
2	Karim Olowu	NGR	7.39
3	Sylvanus Williams	NGR	7.22
4th	Derek Cox	CLOSELY	7.21
5	Hector Hogan	OUT	7.06
6th	Alfred Brown	RHO	7.05
7th	Benjamin Laryea	GCO	6.76
8th	Graham Turnbull	CAN	6.74

5th of August

Triple jump

space	athlete	country	Width (m)
1	Ken Wilmshurst	CLOSELY	15.28
2	Peter Esiri	NGR	15.25
3	Brian Oliver	OUT	15.14
4th	George Armah	GCO	14.41
5	Robert McLaughlin	CAN	14.34
6th	Lawrence Ogwang	UGA	14.13
7th	Jack Smyth	CAN	13.56
8th	Vic Cassis	CAN	13.28

3rd August

Shot put

space	athlete	country	Width (m)
1	John Savidge	CLOSELY	16.77
2	John Pavelich	CAN	14.95
3	Stephen du Plessis	SAF	14.93
4th	Stan Raike	CAN	14.67
5	Lionel Whitman	CAN	14.54
6th	Mark Pharaoh	CLOSELY	14.27
7th	Parduman Singh Brar	IND	13.88
8th	Geoff Elliott	CLOSELY	13.75

5th of August

Discus throw

space	athlete	country	Width (m)
1	Stephen du Plessis	SAF	51.70
2	Roy Pella	CAN	49.53
3	Mark Pharaoh	CLOSELY	47.84
4th	Stan Raike	CAN	45.72
5	Hywel Williams	WHALE	45.19
6th	Ken Swalwell	CAN	44.85
7th	Svein Sigfusson	CAN	43.63
8th	Mesulame Rakuro	FIJ	42.71

3rd August

Hammer throw

space	athlete	country	Width (m)
1	Muhammad Iqbal	PAH	55.37
2	Vic Dreyer	SAF	54.75
3	Ewan Douglas	SCO	52.81
4th	Don Anthony	CLOSELY	52.19
5	Peter Allday	CLOSELY	51.92
6th	Alex Valentine	SCO	51.53
7th	Jim Lally	NIR	47.88
8th	Max Carr	NZL	47.85

Final: August 7th

Javelin throw

space	athlete	country	Width (m)
1	James Achurch	OUT	68.52
2	Muhammad Nawaz	PAH	68.09
3	Jalal Khan	PAH	67.50
4th	Dennis Tucker	CLOSELY	66.02
5	John Veitch	SAF	62.33
6th	Maboria Tesot	KEN	61.89
7th	Kevin Flanagan	NIR	61.67
8th	William League	FIJ	60.86

5th of August

Women

100 yard run

space	Athlete	country	Time (s)
1	Marjorie Nelson	OUT	10.7
2	Winsome Cripps	OUT	10.8
3	Edna Maskell	NRH	10.8
4th	Anne Pashley	CLOSELY	10.9
5	Geraldine Bemister	CAN	10.9
6th	Heather Armitage	CLOSELY	11.0

Finale: July 31

220 yards run

space	Athlete	country	Time (s)
1	Marjorie Nelson	OUT	24.0
2	Winsome Cripps	OUT	24.5
3	Shirley Hampton	CLOSELY	25.0
4th	Ann Johnson	CLOSELY	25.2
5	Heather Armitage	CLOSELY	25.3
6th	Geraldine Bemister	CAN	25.5

Final: August 5th

80 meter hurdles

space	Athlete	country	Time (s)
1	Edna Maskell	NRH	10.9
2	Gwen Hobbins	CAN	11.2
3	Jean Desforges	CLOSELY	11.2
4th	Pam Seaborne	CLOSELY	11.3
5	Shirley Eckel	CAN	11.3
6th	Yvette Williams	NZL	11.4

Final: August 5th

Because of excessive wind support, Edna Maskell's winning time was not recognized as a world record.

4-by-110-yard relay

space	country	Athletes	Time (s)
1	Australia	Gwen Wallace Winsome Cripps Nancy Fogarty Marjorie Nelson	46.8
2	England	Anne Pashley Heather Armitage Shirley Burgess Shirley Hampton	46.9
3	Canada	Margery Squires Dorothy Kozak Annabelle Murray Geraldine Bemister	47.8

high jump

space	Athlete	country	Height (m)
1	Thelma Hopkins	NIR	1.67
2	Dorothy Tyler	CLOSELY	1.60
3	Alice Whitty	CAN	1.60
4th	Sheila Lerwill	CLOSELY	1.57
5	Carol Bernoth	OUT	1.55
	Noeline Swinton	NZL	1.55
7th	Ruth Hendron	CAN	1.47
8th	Heather Walker	CAN	1.47

3rd August

Long jump

space	Athlete	country	Width (m)
1	Yvette Williams	NZL	6.08
2	Thelma Hopkins	NIR	5.84
3	Jean Desforges	CLOSELY	5.84
4th	Rosella Thorne	CAN	5.44
5	Ann Johnson	CLOSELY	5.42
6th	Annabelle Murray	CAN	5.40
7th	Gwen Wallace	OUT	5.30
8th	Margery Squires	CAN	5.30

August 7th

Shot put

space	Athlete	country	Width (m)
1	Yvette Williams	NZL	13.96
2	Jackie MacDonald	CAN	12.98
3	Magdalena Swanepoel	SAF	12.81
4th	Val Lawrence	OUT	12.31
5	Pearl Thornhill-Fisher	NRH	12.30
6th	Suzanne Allday	CLOSELY	11.96
7th	Mary Lawrence	CAN	10.41
8th	Heather Walker	CAN	09.32

July 31

Discus throw

space	Athlete	country	Width (m)
1	Yvette Williams	NZL	45.01
2	Suzanne Allday	CLOSELY	40.02
3	Marie Dupree	CAN	38.66
4th	Helen Metchuk	CAN	36.53
5	Val Lawrence	OUT	31.85
6th	Shirley Couzens	CAN	28.00

August 7th

Javelin throw

space	Athlete	country	Width (m)
1	Magdalena Swanepoel	SAF	43.83
2	Pearl Thornhill-Fisher	NRH	41.97
3	Shirley Couzens	CAN	38.98
4th	Mary Lawrence	CAN	35.18
5	Dorothy Tyler	CLOSELY	32.93
6th	Suzanne Allday	CLOSELY	28.29

5th of August

Web links

• Results on the Commonwealth Games Federation website
• V Commonwealth Game, Vancouver 1954 on trackfield.brinkster.net
• V Commonwealth Games on TOPS in athletics