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1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
Multi-sport event in Vancouver, Canada From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Vancouver, British Columbia, from 30 July to 7 August 1954. This was the fifth edition of the event that would eventually become known as the Commonwealth Games, the second post-war Games, the second Canadian Games after the inaugural event in Hamilton and the first event since the name change from British Empire Games took effect in 1952.
Attribution:Province newspaper
The main venue was the Empire Stadium, which had neen specifically constructed for the games at the cost of £500,000. Work on the 25,000 seated stadium started in October 1953 and the keys were handed over to Stan Smith (General chairman of the games) on 12 July 1954.[1]
The games were attended by 24 nations and 662 competitors.[2] It was the first time that the games gained a television audience, when CBC and NBC transmitted pictures to an estimated 100 million North American viewers.[3]
It was at these games that the "Miracle Mile" took place between Roger Bannister and John Landy at the 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 time for the marathon, entered the stadium 17 minutes ahead of his nearest rival, but collapsed on his final lap, and never completed the race.
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Venues
- Opening and Closing Ceremonies: Empire Stadium, Hastings Park
- Aquatics: Empire Pool, University of British Columbia, West Point Grey
- Athletics: Empire Stadium
- Boxing: Exhibition Forum[5]
- Cycling (track): Empire Oval (Broadway Bowl)[6]
- Cycling (road): 1155 East Broadway
- Fencing: Lord Byng School Gym, West Point Grey[6]
- Lawn bowls: West Point Grey Bowling Club, New Westminster Lawn Bowling Club[6]
- Rowing: Vedder Canal, Chilliwack
- Weightlifting: Exhibition Garden, Hastings Park[6]
- Wrestling: Kerrisdale Arena[5]
- Athletes' Village: University of British Columbia, West Point Grey
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Participating teams
24 teams were represented at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games.
Australia
Bahamas: first appearance
Barbados: first appearance
Bermuda
British Guiana
Canada (host)
England
Fiji
Gold Coast: first appearance
Hong Kong
India
Jamaica
Kenya: first appearance
New Zealand
Nigeria
Northern Ireland
Northern Rhodesia: first appearance
Pakistan: first appearance
Scotland
South Africa
Southern Rhodesia
Trinidad and Tobago
Uganda: first appearance
Wales
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Medal table
Sports
Aquatics ()
Athletics () 
Boxing () 
Cycling () 
Fencing () 
Lawn bowls () 
Rowing () 
Weightlifting () 
Wrestling ()
References
External links
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