Athletics at the 1950 British Empire Games
# 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.

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.

## Medal summary

### Men

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | 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 | 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 | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | 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

* 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 |
| 5 | 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) | 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)
