Athletics at the 1938 British Empire Games
# Athletics at the 1938 British Empire Games

At the 1938 British Empire Games, the athletics events were held at the Sydney Cricket Ground in Sydney, Australia in February 1938. A total of 28 athletics events were contested at the Games, 20 by men and 8 by women.

## Medal summary

### Men

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 100 yards details | Cyril Holmes (ENG) | 9.7 | John Mumford (AUS) | 9.8e | Ted Best (AUS) | 9.9e |
| 220 yards details | Cyril Holmes (ENG) | 21.2 | John Mumford (AUS) | 21.3e | Ted Best (AUS) | 21.4e |
| 440 yards details | Bill Roberts (ENG) | 47.9 | William Fritz (CAN) | 47.9e | Denis Shore (SAF) | 48.1e |
| 880 yards details | Pat Boot (NZL) | 1:51.2 | Frank Handley (ENG) | 1:54.0e | Bill Dale (CAN) | 1:54.2e |
| 1 mile details | Jim Alford (WAL) | 4:11.6 | Gerald Backhouse (AUS) | 4:12.2e | Pat Boot (NZL) | 4:12.6e |
| 3 miles details | Cecil Matthews (NZL) | 13:59.6 | Peter Ward (ENG) | 14:05.4 | Scotty Rankine (CAN) | 14:24.0e |
| 6 miles details | Cecil Matthews (NZL) | 30:14.5 | Scotty Rankine (CAN) | +180 yd | Wally Hayward (SAF) | +250 yd |
| Marathon details | Johannes Coleman (SAF) | 2:30:15 | Bert Norris (ENG) | 2:37:57 | Jackie Gibson (SAF) | 2:38:20 |
| 120 yards hurdles details | Tom Lavery (SAF) | 14.0w | Larry O'Connor (CAN) | 14.2ew | Sid Stenner (AUS) | 14.4ew |
| 440 yards hurdles details | John Loaring (CAN) | 52.9 | John Park (AUS) | 54.6e | Alan McDougall (AUS) | 55.2e |
| 4 × 110 yards relay details | Canada Jack Brown Pat Haley John Loaring Larry O'Connor | 41.6 | England Ken Richardson Sandy Duncan Lawrence Wallace Cyril Holmes | 41.8e | Australia Ted Best Alf Watson Ted Hampson Howard Yates | 41.9e |
| 4 × 440 yards relay details | Canada Lee Orr Bill Dale William Fritz John Loaring | 3:16.9 | England Frank Handley Henry Pack Brian MacCabe Bill Roberts | 3:19.2 | New Zealand Alan Sayers Arnold Anderson Graham Quinn Harold Tyrie | 3:22.0 |
| High jump details | Edwin Thacker (SAF) | 1.96 | Robert Heffernan (AUS) | 1.88 | Doug Shetliffe (AUS) | 1.88 |
| Pole vault details | Andries du Plessis (SAF) | 4.11 | Les Fletcher (AUS) | 3.97 | Stuart Frid (CAN) | 3.88 |
| Long jump details | Harold Brown (CAN) | 7.43 | Jim Panton (CAN) | 7.25 | Basil Dickinson (AUS) | 7.15 |
| Triple jump details | Jack Metcalfe (AUS) | 15.49 | Lloyd Miller (AUS) | 15.41 | Basil Dickinson (AUS) | 15.28 |
| Shot put details | Louis Fouché (SAF) | 14.48 | Eric Coy (CAN) | 13.95 | Francis Drew (AUS) | 13.80 |
| Discus throw details | Eric Coy (CAN) | 44.76 | David Young (SCO) | 43.04 | George Sutherland (CAN) | 41.47 |
| Hammer throw details | George Sutherland (CAN) | 48.71 | Keith Pardon (AUS) | 45.11 | Jim Leckie (NZL) | 44.21 |
| Javelin throw details | Jim Courtright (CAN) | 62.80 | Stan Lay (NZL) | 62.21 | Jack Metcalfe (AUS) | 55.53 |

**Invitation events**

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 220 yards hurdles details | Phillip Sharpley (NZL) | 24.7 | Alan McDougall (AUS) | +2 yd | Jack Lobban (AUS) | +0.5 yd |
| 2 miles walk details | Athol Stubbs (AUS) | 13:51.4 | R. Stephenson (AUS) | +250 yd | W. Hayward (AUS) | +20 yd |

### Women

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 100 yards details | Decima Norman (AUS) | 11.1 | Joyce Walker (AUS) | 11.3e | Jeanette Dolson (CAN) | 11.4e |
| 220 yards details | Decima Norman (AUS) | 24.7 | Jean Coleman (AUS) | 25.1e | Eileen Wearne (AUS) | 25.3e |
| 80 metres hurdles details | Barbara Burke (SAF) | 11.7w | Isabel Grant (AUS) | 11.7ew | Rona Tong (NZL) | 11.8ew |
| 110–220–110 yards relay details | Australia Jean Coleman Eileen Wearne Decima Norman | 49.1 | Canada Aileen Meagher Jeanette Dolson Barbara Howard | 49.9e | England Kathleen Stokes Dorothy Saunders Winifred Jeffrey | 51.3e |
| 220–110–220–110 yards relay details | Australia Decima Norman Joan Woodland Jean Coleman Thelma Peake | 1:15.2 | England Kathleen Stokes Ethel Raby Dorothy Saunders Winifred Jeffrey | 1:17.2e | Canada Violet Montgomery Barbara Howard Aileen Meagher Jeanette Dolson | 1:19.0e |
| High jump details | Dorothy Odam (ENG) | 1.60 | Dora Gardner (ENG) | 1.57 | Betty Forbes (NZL) | 1.57 |
| Long jump details | Decima Norman (AUS) | 5.80 | Ethel Raby (ENG) | 5.65 | Thelma Peake (AUS) | 5.55 |
| Javelin throw details | Robina Higgins (CAN) | 38.28 | Antonia Robertson (SAF) | 36.98 | Gladys Lunn (ENG) | 36.41 |

## Medal table

* Host nation (Australia)

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Canada (CAN) | 8 | 6 | 6 | 20 |
| 2 | Australia (AUS)* | 6 | 11 | 12 | 29 |
| 3 | South Africa (RSA) | 6 | 1 | 3 | 10 |
| 4 | England (ENG) | 4 | 8 | 2 | 14 |
| 5 | New Zealand (NZL) | 3 | 1 | 5 | 9 |
| 6 | Wales (WAL) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | Scotland (SCO) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Totals (7 entries) | Totals (7 entries) | 28 | 28 | 28 | 84 |

## Participating nations

* Australia (78)
* British Ceylon (4)
* Canada (37)
* England (24)
* New Zealand (19)
* Northern Ireland (3)
* Scotland (4)
* South Africa (12)
* Southern Rhodesia (2)
* Trinidad and Tobago (3)
* Wales (1)
