Athletics at the 1938 British Empire Games

International athletics championship event

Athletics at the 3rd British Empire and Commonwealth Games

The events took place with a makeshift track at the cricket ground

Dates| 5–12 February 1938
Host city| Sydney, Australia
Venue| Sydney Cricket Ground
Level| Senior
Events| 28
Participation| 187 athletes from
11 nations

<- 1934 London

1950 Auckland ->

* * *

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

[edit]

### Men

[edit]

( 'e' denotes an estimated time )

Event  | Gold  | Silver  | Bronze

|
|
|

Medallists for men's events, with times, heights and distances; links to event details  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 yds (~30:45)  |  Wally Hayward (SAF) | +250 yds (~31:28)
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

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Event  | Gold  | Silver  | Bronze

|
|
|

Medallists in men's invitation events, with times and/or distances  220 yards hurdles
details |  Phillip Sharpley (NZL) | 24.7  |  Alan McDougall (AUS) | +2 yds (~24.9)  |  Jack Lobban (AUS) | +0.5 yd
2 miles walk
details |  Athol Stubbs (AUS) | 13:51.4  |  R. Stephenson (AUS) | +250 yds (~14:50)  |  W. Hayward (AUS) | +20 yds

### Women

[edit]

Event  | Gold  | Silver  | Bronze

|
|
|

Medallists for women's events, with times, heights and distances; links to event details  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

[edit]

Decima Norman was Australia's most successful athlete of the games with five gold medals.[1]

* Host nation (Australia)

Medals won by nation with totals, ranked by number of golds—sortableRank| 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)| 28| 28| 28| 84

## Participating nations

[edit]

* 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)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Fact sheet 188 – Empire Games, Sydney, 1938. National Archives of Australia. Retrieved on 2010-09-02.

Results

* Commonwealth Games Medallists - Men. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2010-09-02.
* Commonwealth Games Medallists - Women. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2010-09-02.

## External links

[edit]

* 1938 Games Commentary and video of men's 100 yards from British Pathé

* v
* t
* e

Athletics at the Commonwealth Games

* 1930
* 1934
* 1938
* 1950
* 1954
* 1958
* 1962
* 1966
* 1970
* 1974
* 1978
* 1982
* 1986
* 1990
* 1994
* 1998
* 2002
* 2006
* 2010
* 2014
* 2018
* 2022

* Records
* Medallists
* Men
* Women
* Athletics at the Inter-Empire Championships

* v
* t
* e

Sports at the 1938 British Empire Games (Sydney)

* Aquatics
* Athletics
* Boxing
* Cycling
* Lawn bowls
* Rowing
* Wrestling

*[ENG]: England
*[AUS]: Australia
*[CAN]: Canada
*[SAF]: South Africa
*[NZL]: New Zealand
*[WAL]: Wales
*[SCO]: Scotland
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