Athletics at the 1950 British Empire Games

At the 1950 British Empire Games, the athletics events were held at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand in February 1950. A total of 28 athletics events were contested at the Games, 20 by men and 8 by women. A total of seventeen Games records were set or improved over the competition.

Athletics at the 4th British Empire Games
Eden Park hosted the athletics competition and the games opening ceremony.
Dates	5–11 February 1950
Host city	Auckland, New Zealand
Venue	Eden Park
Level	Senior
Events	28
Participation	195 athletes from 12 nations
← 1938 Sydney 1954 Vancouver → 1950 British Empire Games

A number of events can be viewed in series of thirteen 1950 Empire Games archive reels which have been uploaded by Archives New Zealand on YouTube.^[1]

Medal summary

Men

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
100 yards details	John Treloar (AUS)	9.7 GR=	William De Gruchy (AUS)	9.8	Don Pettie (CAN)	9.9
220 yards details	John Treloar (AUS)	21.5	David Johnson (AUS)	21.8	Don Jowett (NZL)	21.8
440 yards details	Edwin Carr (AUS)	47.9 GR=	Leslie Lewis (ENG)	48.0	David Batten (NZL)	48.8
880 yards details	John Parlett (ENG)	1:53.1	Jack Hutchins (CAN)	1:53.4	Bill Parnell (CAN)	1:53.4
1 mile details	Bill Parnell (CAN)	4:11.0 GR	Len Eyre (ENG)	4:11.8	Maurice Marshall (NZL)	4:13.2
3 miles details	Len Eyre (ENG)	14:23.6	Harold Nelson (NZL)	14:27.8	Anthony Chivers (ENG)	14:28.1
6 miles details	Harold Nelson (NZL)	30:29.6	Andrew Forbes (SCO)	30:31.9	Noel Taylor (NZL)	30:31.9
Marathon details	Jack Holden (ENG)	2:32:57 GR	Syd Luyt (SAF)	2:37:03	Jack Clarke (NZL)	2:39:27
120 yards hurdles details	Peter Gardner (AUS)	14.3 GR	Ray Weinberg (AUS)	14.4	Tom Lavery (SAF)	14.6
440 yards hurdles details	Duncan White (CEY)	52.5 GR	John Holland (NZL)	52.7	Geoff Goodacre (AUS)	53.1
4 × 110 yards relay details	Australia Scotchy Gordon David Johnson John Treloar William De Gruchy	42.2	England Brian Shenton Jack Archer Leslie Lewis Nick Stacey	42.5	New Zealand Arthur Eustace Clem Parker Kevin Beardsley Peter Henderson	42.6
4 × 440 yards relay details	Australia Edwin Carr George Gedge James Humphreys Ross Price	3:17.8	England Derek Pugh John Parlett Leslie Lewis Terry Higgins	3:19.3	New Zealand David Batten Derek Steward John Holland Jack Sutherland	3:20.0
High jump details	John Winter (AUS)	1.98 m GR	Josiah Majekodunmi (NGR)   Alan Paterson (SCO)	1.96 m	None awarded
Pole vault details	Tim Anderson (ENG)	3.97 m	Stan Egerton (CAN)	3.97 m	Peter Denton (AUS)	3.88 m
Long jump details	Neville Price (SAF)	7.32 m	Bevin Hough (NZL)	7.20 m	David Dephoff (NZL)	7.09 m
Triple jump details	Brian Oliver (AUS)	15.61 m	Les McKeand (AUS)	15.28 m	Ian Polmear (AUS)	14.67 m
Shot put details	Mataika Tuicakau (FIJ)	14.64 m	Harold Moody (ENG)	13.92 m	Leo Roininen (CAN)	13.68 m
Discus throw details	Ian Reed (AUS)	47.72 m GR	Mataika Tuicakau (FIJ)	44.00 m	Svein Sigfusson (CAN)	43.48 m
Hammer throw details	Duncan Clark (SCO)	49.94 m GR	Keith Pardon (AUS)	47.83 m	Herb Barker (AUS)	45.62 m
Javelin throw details	Leo Roininen (CAN)	57.11 m	Luke Tunabuna (FIJ)	56.02 m	Doug Robinson (CAN)	55.60 m

Women

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
100 yards details	Marjorie Jackson (AUS)	10.8 GR	Shirley Strickland (AUS)	11.0	Verna Johnston (AUS)	11.1
220 yards details	Marjorie Jackson (AUS)	24.3 GR	Shirley Strickland (AUS)	24.5	Daphne Robb (SAF)	24.7
80 metres hurdles details	Shirley Strickland (AUS)	11.6	June Schoch (NZL)	11.6	Janet Shackleton (NZL)	11.7
110–220–110 yards relay details	Australia Marjorie Jackson Shirley Strickland Verna Johnston	47.9 GR	New Zealand Lesley Rowe Dorothea Parker Shirley Hardman	48.7	England Dorothy Manley Margaret Walker Sylvia Cheeseman	50.0
220–110–220–110 yards relay details	Australia Ann Shanley Marjorie Jackson Shirley Strickland Verna Johnston	1:13.4 GR	England Doris Batter Dorothy Manley Margaret Walker Sylvia Cheeseman	1:17.5	Canada Elaine Silburn Eleanor McKenzie Gerry Bemister Patricia Jones	Unknown
High jump details	Dorothy Tyler (ENG)	1.60 GR=	Bertha Crowther (ENG)	1.60 m	Noelene Swinton (NZL)	1.55 m
Long jump details	Yvette Williams (NZL)	5.90 m GR	Judy Canty (AUS)	5.78 m	Ruth Dowman (NZL)	5.74 m
Javelin throw details	Charlotte MacGibbon (AUS)	38.84 GR	Yvette Williams (NZL)	37.96	Cleone Rivett-Carnac (NZL)	34.43

Medal table

 

Shirley Strickland (statue above) won a hurdles gold medal, two relay golds and two sprint silvers for Australia.

  *   Host nation (New Zealand)

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Australia (AUS)	15	8	5	28
2	England (ENG)	5	7	2	14
3	New Zealand (NZL)*	2	6	12	20
4	Canada (CAN)	2	2	6	10
5	Fiji (FIJ)	1	2	0	3
	Scotland (SCO)	1	2	0	3
7	South Africa (SAF)	1	1	2	4
8	Ceylon (CEY)	1	0	0	1
9	Nigeria (NGR)	0	1	0	1
Totals (9 entries)		28	29	27	84

Participating nations

•   Australia (46)
•   Canada (25)
•   Ceylon (6)
•   England (27)
•   Fiji (4)
•   Malaya (2)
•   New Zealand (64)
•   Nigeria (4)
•   Scotland (7)
•   South Africa (7)
•   Southern Rhodesia (2)
•   Wales (1)

References

1. Empire Games (1950) Reels

Results

• Commonwealth Games Medallists - Men. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2010-08-31.
• Commonwealth Games Medallists - Women. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2010-08-31.