1986 Commonwealth Games
The 1986 Commonwealth Games (Scottish Gaelic: Geamannan a 'Cho-fhlaitheis 1986) were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, between 24 July and 2 August 1986. They were the second Games to be held in Edinburgh.
 | |
| Host city | Edinburgh,  |
|---|---|
| Nations participating | 27 |
| Athletes participating | 1,660 |
| Events | 161 events in 10 sports |
| Opening ceremony | 24 July |
| Closing ceremony | 2 August |
| Officially opened by | Elizabeth II |
| Queen's Baton Final Runner | Allan Wells |
| Main venue | Meadowbank Stadium |
Organisation
Unlike the 1970 Games in Edinburgh, which were popular and successful, the 1986 Games are ill-famed for the wide political boycott connected with them and the resulting financial mismanagement.[1]
Controversies
Further controversy arose when it was revealed that through this much-reduced participation and the resultant decline in anticipated broadcasting and sponsorship revenues, the Organising Committee was facing a big financial black hole. The boycott ended any prospect of securing emergency government assistance. Businessman Robert Maxwell stepped in to offer funding, taking over as chairman; but although he promised to invest £2m, his contribution was just £250,000. On a budget of £14m, the Games opened with a deficit of £3m, which later grew to £4.3m, and instead of putting enough money into the event to save it, the new chairman of the Games asked creditors to forgo half the payment due to them to keep the event out of liquidation. The debt was finally paid off in 1989, with the city of Edinburgh losing approximately £500,000.[2]
Several participants were excluded because they breached the amateurism rules, most notably lawn bowlers Phil Skoglund from New Zealand and Willie Wood from Scotland, both of whom have competed in subsequent Games.
Participating teams
Due to the boycott only 27 teams from across the Commonwealth were represented at the 1986 Games.
| Participating Commonwealth countries and territories |
|---|
|
^ Note: Bermuda withdrew from the games to join the boycott after the opening day of competition.[3] |
| Debuting Commonwealth countries and territories |
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Boycott
_boycotting_countries_(red).png)
The majority of Commonwealth nations staged a boycott, meaning that the Games appeared largely to be a whites-only event. Thirty two of the eligible fifty nine countries, largely African, Asian and Caribbean states, stayed away because of the Thatcher government's policy of keeping Britain's sporting links with apartheid South Africa in preference to participating in the general sporting boycott of that country. Consequently, Edinburgh 1986 witnessed the lowest turnout since Auckland 1950.[4] Bermuda was a particularly late withdrawal, as its athletes had appeared in the opening ceremony and in the opening day of competition before the Bermuda Olympic Association decided to formally withdraw.[5]
Opening ceremony
The theme of the opening ceremony celebrated the "Spirit of Youth" and included 6500 Scottish schoolchildren taking part in a series of large Mass Games-style Gymnastics routines. The theme song "Spirit of Youth" was written by Gerard Kenny. The ceremony began on the esplanade of Edinburgh Castle from which hundreds of schoolchildren ran down the Royal Mile, through Holyrood Park to Meadowbank Stadium.[7]
Venues
- Meadowbank Stadium
- Royal Commonwealth Pool
- Strathclyde Park
- Barry Buddon
- Balgreen, Bowls
Medals by country
* Host nation (Scotland)
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | 52 | 43 | 49 | 144 |
| 2 | .svg.png){kind=small} | 51 | 34 | 31 | 116 |
| 3 | .svg.png){kind=small} | 40 | 46 | 35 | 121 |
| 4 |  | 8 | 16 | 14 | 38 |
| 5 | .svg.png){kind=small} | 6 | 5 | 12 | 23 |
| 6 | | 3 | 12 | 18 | 33 |
| 7 |  | 2 | 4 | 9 | 15 |
| 8 |  | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 |  | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 |  | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | .svg.png){kind=small} | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 12 |  | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 13 |  | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals (15 nations) | 163 | 163 | 176 | 502 | |
Medals by event
Aquatics
Athletics
Badminton
Bowls
Boxing
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light Flyweight | | | |
| Flyweight | | | |
| Bantamweight | | | |
| Featherweight | | | |
| Lightweight | | | |
| Light Welterweight | | | |
| Welterweight | | | |
| Light Middleweight | | | |
| Middleweight | | | |
| Light Heavyweight | | | |
| Heavyweight | | | |
| Super Heavyweight | | | |
Cycling
Track
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men | ||||||
| Time Trial | | 00:01:06 | | 00:01:06 | | 00:01:07 |
| Sprint | | | | |||
| Individual Pursuit | | 00:04:44 | | 00:04:51 | | 00:04:54 |
| Team Pursuit | Glenn Clarke Brett Dutton Bill Hardy Wayne McCarney Dean Woods | 00:04:27 | Gary Anderson Russell Clune Stephen Swart Andrew Whitford | 00:04:34 | Chris Boardman Gary Coltman Rob Muzio Jon Walshaw Guy Rowland | overtaken |
| 10 Miles (16 Kilometres) Scratch | | 00:19:41 | | 00:19:41 | | 00:19:41 |
Road
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men | ||||||
| Road Race | | 04:08:50 | | 04:08:50 | | 04:08:50 |
| Team Time Trial | Alan Gornall Deno Davie Keith Reynolds Paul Curran | 02:13:16 | Blair Cox Graeme Miller Gregory Fraine Paul Leitch | 02:14:50 | Alastair Irvine Cormac McCann Joseph Barr Martin Quinn | 02:16:13 |
Rowing
Shooting
Pistol
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men/Open | ||||||
| Free Pistol | | 551 | | 549 | ||
| Free Pistol – Pairs | Tom Guinn Claude Beaulieu | 1099 | Paul Leatherdale Richard Wang | 1090 | Phil Adams Bengt Sandström | 1085 |
| Centre-Fire Pistol | | 583 | | 582 | | 580 |
| Centre-Fire Pistol – Pairs | Phil Adams Rod Hack | 1165 | Bob Northover Michael Cutler | 1157 | Rex Hamilton Barry O'Neale | 1153 |
| Rapid-Fire Pistol | | 591 | | 588 | | 585 |
| Rapid-Fire Pistol – Pairs | Brian Girling Terry Turner | 1169 | Pat Murray Jack Mast | 1152 | Mark Howkins André Chevrefils | 1150 |
| Air Pistol | | 575 | | 574 | | 574 |
| Air Pistol – Pairs | Paul Leatherdale Ian Reid | 1143 | Phil Adams Bruce Favell | 1143 | Greg Yelavich Barrie Wickens | 1140 |
Rifle
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men/Open | ||||||
| Small Bore Rifle, Prone | | 599 | | 598 | | 597 |
| Small Bore Rifle, Prone – Pairs | Michael Ashcroft Gale Stewart | 1175 | Donald Brook Alan Smith | 1171 | Terry Wakefield Colin Harris | 1165 |
| Small Bore Rifle, Three Positions | | 1170 | | 1167 | | 1150 |
| Small Bore Rifle, Three Positions – Pairs | Malcolm Cooper Sarah Cooper | 2278 | Jean-François Sénécal Michael Dion | 2276 | Alister Allan Bill MacNeill | 2241 |
| Full Bore Rifle | | 396 | | 396 | | 395 |
| Full Bore Rifle – Pairs | Bill Baldwin Alain Marion | 583 | James Corbett Stan Golinski | 583 | David Calvert Martin Millar | 582 |
| Air Rifle | | 588 | | 583 | | 582 |
| Air Rifle – Pairs | Guy Lorion Sharon Bowes | 1167 | Wolfgang Jobst Anton Wurfel | 1151 | Malcolm Cooper Robert Smith | 1146 |
Shotgun
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men/Open | ||||||
| Trap | | 195 | | 192 | | 192 |
| Trap – Pairs | Peter Boden Ian Peel | 185 | Tom Hewitt Eamon Furphy | 183 | Terry Rumbel Domingo Diaz | 183 |
| Skeet | | 196 | | 195 | ||
| Skeet – Pairs | Joe Neville Ken Harman | 195 | Brian Gabriel Don Kwasyncia | 193 | John Woolley Jeff Farrell | 189 |
Weightlifting
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men | ||||||
| Flyweight – Overall | | 212.5 | | 185 | | 177.5 |
| Bantamweight – Overall | | 245 | | 217.5 | | 215 |
| Featherweight – Overall | | 252.5 | | 250 | | 235 |
| Lightweight – Overall | | 315 | | 307.5 | | 290 |
| Middleweight – Overall | | 302.5 | | 300 | | 270 |
| Light Heavyweight – Overall | | 350 | | 325 | | 317.5 |
| Middle Heavyweight – Overall | | 350 | | 342.5 | | 340 |
| Sub Heavyweight – Overall | | 360 | | 332.5 | | 327.5 |
| Heavyweight – Overall | | 375 | | 372.5 | | 370 |
| Super Heavyweight – Overall | | 392.5 | | 347.5 | | 342.5 |
Wrestling
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men | ||||||
| Light Flyweight | | | | |||
| Flyweight | | | | |||
| Bantamweight | | | | |||
| Featherweight | | | | |||
| Lightweight | | | | |||
| Welterweight | | | | |||
| Middleweight | | | | |||
| Light Heavyweight | | | | |||
| Heavyweight | | | | |||
| Super Heavyweight | | | | |||
See also
- 1970 Commonwealth Games, held in Edinburgh
- 2014 Commonwealth Games, held in Glasgow.
References
- "The forgotten story of … Robert Maxwell's 1986 Commonwealth Games | Sport | theguardian.com". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 7 April 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
- "Glasgow makes final call for 2014 Games - Athletics - Scotsman.com". News.scotsman.com. 9 May 2007. Archived from the original on 17 May 2007. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
- Fraser, Graham (25 April 2014). Glasgow 2014: The Bermuda boycott of 1986 that still hurts Archived 11 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine. BBC Sport. Retrieved on 19 August 2015.
- "Scottish independence referendum will increase interest in Glasgow 2014, it is claimed | Glasgow 2014". insidethegames.biz. 29 February 2012. Archived from the original on 11 August 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
- Fraser, Graham (25 April 2014). Glasgow 2014: The Bermuda boycott of 1986 that still hurts Archived 11 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine. BBC Sport. Retrieved on 2 November 2014.
- "8 More Nations Join Boycott of Commonwealth Games; Total Now 23". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 21 February 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
- "Power From Within – Commonwealth Games 1986 Opening Ceremony – YouTube". youtube.com. Archived from the original on 30 July 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
- "Mike Burrell". New Zealand Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 3 May 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
- "Neil Gibson". New Zealand Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 31 October 2016. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
- "Barrie Mabbott". New Zealand Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 19 April 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
- "Shane O'Brien". New Zealand Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 3 May 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
- "Andrew Stevenson". New Zealand Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 18 April 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
- "Don Symon". New Zealand Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 30 October 2016. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
- "Carl Vincent". New Zealand Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 3 May 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
- "Ian Wright". New Zealand Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 18 April 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
- "Andrew Hay". New Zealand Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 18 April 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
External links
- Commonwealth Games Official Site
- 1986 Commonwealth Games – Australian Commonwealth Games Association official website
- Video of the Opening Ceremony
| Preceded by Brisbane |
Commonwealth Games Edinburgh XIII Commonwealth Games |
Succeeded by Auckland |
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