1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games

VIII British Empire and Commonwealth Games

Host city	Kingston, Jamaica
Nations	34
Athletes	1,316 (inc. officials)
Events	110 events in 10 sports
Opening	4 August 1966
Closing	13 August 1966
Opened by	Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Main venue	Independence Park
←  VII IX  →

The 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Kingston, Jamaica, from 4 to 13 August 1966. This was the first time that the Games had been held outside the so-called White Dominions. The opening ceremony was the first Games to be opened in the evening. ^[1] The event was followed by the 1966 Commonwealth Paraplegic Games for wheelchair athletes. Jamaica remains the only host nation of a Commonwealth Games that did not win at least one gold medal in its own games.

Two sports; lawn bowls and rowing were dropped from the Games due to lack of facilities and were replaced by the debut sports of badminton and shooting. A record 38 countries competed at the Games. ^[2]

The National Stadium was the primary venue for the Games

Host selection

A Jamaican five-shilling coin commemorating the Games

Kingston was elected host by the CGF in Rome, Italy, during the 1960 Summer Olympics.

1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games bidding results

City	Country	Votes
Kingston	Jamaica	17
Edinburgh	Scotland	12
Salisbury	Rhodesia and Nyasaland	5

Venues

^[2]

• Athletes' Village – University of the West Indies at Mona
• Athletics, Opening and Closing Ceremonies – National Stadium in Independence Park
• Badminton – Kingston Convention Hall
• Boxing – National Stadium and Sabina Park ^[3]
• Cycling (track) – National Stadium in Independence Park
• Cycling (road) –
• Diving – National Aquatic Centre
• Fencing – Excelsior School Auditorium
• Shooting – Twickenham Park Range, Spanish Town ^[4]
• Swimming – National Aquatic Centre
• Weightlifting - Ward Theatre ^{[2] [5]}
• Wrestling – Kingston Convention Hall

Participating teams

Countries that participated

34 teams were represented at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games.
(Teams competing for the first time are shown in bold).

Participating Commonwealth countries and territories:

• Antigua and Barbuda —first appearance
• Australia
• Bahamas
• Barbados
• Bermuda
• British Honduras
• Canada
• Ceylon
• England
• Fiji
• Ghana
• Gibraltar
• Guyana
• India
• Isle of Man
• Jamaica (host)
• Jersey
• Kenya
• Malaysia
• Mauritius
• New Zealand
• Nigeria
• Northern Ireland
• Pakistan
• Papua and New Guinea
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
• Scotland
• Sierra Leone
• Singapore
• South Arabia —first appearance
• Tanzania —first appearance
• Trinidad and Tobago
• Uganda
• Wales

Medals by country

  *   Host nation (Jamaica)

Medals won by nation, ranked and sortable

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	England  (ENG)	33	24	23	80
2	Australia  (AUS)	23	28	22	73
3	Canada  (CAN)	14	20	23	57
4	New Zealand  (NZL)	8	5	13	26
5	Ghana  (GHA)	5	2	2	9
	Trinidad and Tobago  (TTO)	5	2	2	9
7	Pakistan  (PAK)	4	1	4	9
8	Kenya  (KEN)	4	1	3	8
9	India  (IND)	3	4	3	10
	Nigeria  (NGR)	3	4	3	10
11	Wales  (WAL)	3	2	2	7
12	Malaysia  (MAS)	3	2	1	6
13	Scotland  (SCO)	1	4	4	9
14	Northern Ireland  (NIR)	1	3	3	7
15	Isle of Man  (IOM)	1	0	0	1
16	Jamaica  (JAM)*	0	4	8	12
17	Bahamas  (BAH)	0	1	0	1
	Bermuda  (BER)	0	1	0	1
	Guyana  (GUY)	0	1	0	1
	Papua New Guinea  (PNG)	0	1	0	1
21	Uganda  (UGA)	0	0	3	3
22	Barbados  (BAR)	0	0	1	1
Totals (22 entries)		111	110	120	341

Sports

Athletics

Main article: Athletics at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games

Badminton

Main article: Badminton at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games

Boxing

Main article: Boxing at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games

Cycling

Main article: Cycling at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games

Diving

Main article: Diving at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games

Fencing

Fencing medallists by event

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Foil, Men	Allan Jay	Bill Hoskyns	Graham Paul
Foil – Team, Men	England Allan Jay Graham Paul Bill Hoskyns	Australia Barry Wasley Brian McCowage John Humphreys Russell Hobby	Scotland George Sandor Joseph Rorke Robert Wilson
Épée, Men	Bill Hoskyns	John Pelling	Robert Reynolds
Épée – Team, Men	England Bill Hoskyns John Pelling Peter Jacobs	Canada John Andru Konrad Widmaier Peter Bakonyi	Australia Barry Wasley John Humphreys Peter Hardiman Russell Hobby
Sabre, Men	Ralph Cooperman	Sandy Leckie	Gabor Arato
Sabre- Team, Men	England Ralph Cooperman Richard Oldcorn John Rayden	Australia Brian McCowage Gabor Arato Laszlo Tornallyay	Canada John Andru Leslie Samek Robert Foxcroft
Foil, Women	Janet Wardell-Yerburgh	Shirley Parker	Gaye McDermit
Foil – Team, Women	England Janet Wardell-Yerburgh Joyce Pearce Shirley Parker	Australia Jeanette Beauchamp Melody Coleman Walburga Winter	New Zealand Joyce Fenton Gaye McDermit Pamela French

Shooting

Pistol

Medallists and scores in pistol shooting by event

Event	For	Gold		Silver		Bronze
		Athlete	Score	Athlete	Score	Athlete	Score
50m Free Pistol	Men/Open	Charles Sexton	544	Jules Sobrian	538	Garfield McMahon	536
25m Centre-Fire Pistol	Men/Open	James Lee	576	Tony Clark	575	Julio Machado	571
25m Rapid-Fire Pistol	Men/Open	Tony Clark	585	Michael Papps	578	Jules Sobrian	572

Rifle

Medallists and score in rifle shooting by event

Event	For	Gold		Silver		Bronze
		Athlete	Score	Athlete	Score	Athlete	Score
50m Rifle Prone	Men/Open	Gilmour Boa	587	Brian Lacey	585	John Murphy	584
Full Bore Rifle	Men/Open	Lord John Swansea	394	Robert Stewart	381	Tom Sutherland	381

Swimming

Men's events

Medallists and times in men's swimming by event

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
	Athlete	Time	Athlete	Time	Athlete	Time
110 yd freestyle	Mike Wenden	54.0	Bobby McGregor	54.2	David Dickson	54.6
440 yd freestyle	Bob Windle	4:15.0	John Bennett	4:15.8	Ralph Hutton	4:16.1
1650 yd freestyle	Ron Jackson	17:25.9	Sandy Gilchrist	17:33.9	Ralph Hutton	17:38.9
110 yd backstroke	Peter Reynolds	1:02.4	Ralph Hutton	1:02.7	Neil Jackson	1:03.3
220 yd backstroke	Peter Reynolds	2:12.0	Ralph Hutton	2:13.5	Karl Byrom	2:18.8
110 yd breaststroke	Ian O'Brien	1:08.2	Tony Graham	1:12.9	Malcolm Tucker	1:13.9
220 yd breaststroke	Ian O'Brien	2:29.3	Tony Graham	2:36.9	Bill Mahony	2:38.9
110 yd butterfly	Ron Jacks	1:00.3	Graham Dunn	1:00.9	Keith Bewley	1:01.5
220 yd butterfly	David Gerrard	2:12.7	Brett Hill	2:12.8	Tom Arusoo	2:14.2
440 yd individual medley	Peter Reynolds	4:50.8	Ralph Hutton	4:51.8	Sandy Gilchrist	4:58.7
4×110 yd freestyle relay	Australia David Dickson John Ryan Mike Wenden Bob Windle	3:35.6	Canada Sandy Gilchrist Ralph Hutton Robert Kasting Ronald Jacks	3:42.3	England Anthony Jarvis John Martin-Dye Michael Turner Robert Lord	3:43.7
4×220 yd freestyle relay	Australia David Dickson Mike Wenden Peter Reynolds Bob Windle	7:59.5	Canada Sandy Gilchrist Ralph Hutton Robert Kasting Ronald Jacks	8:15.0	England Anthony Jarvis John Thurley Keith Bewley Michael Turner	8:24.0
4×110 yd medley relay	Canada Sandy Gilchrist Leonard Chase Ralph Hutton Ronald Jacks	4:10.5	England Keith Bewley Malcolm Tucker Michael Turner Neil Jackson	4:11.3	New Zealand David Gerrard Tony Graham Hilton Brown Paddy O'Carroll	4:17.5

Women's events

Medallists and times in women's swimming by event

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
	Athlete	Time	Athlete	Time	Athlete	Time
110 yd freestyle	Marion Lay	01:02.3	Lynette Bell	01:03.2	Jan Murphy	01:03.4
440 yd freestyle	Kathy Wainwright	04:38.8	Jenny Thorn	04:44.5	Kim Herford	04:47.2
110 yd backstroke	Linda Ludgrove	01:09.2	Elaine Tanner	01:09.9	Janet Franklin	01:11.8
220 yd backstroke	Linda Ludgrove	02:28.5	Elaine Tanner	02:29.7	Margaret Macrae	02:34.7
110 yd breaststroke	Diana Harris	01:19.7	Jill Slattery	01:19.8	Heather Saville	01:21.6
220 yd breaststroke	Jill Slattery	02:50.3	Stella Mitchell	02:50.3	Vivien Haddon	02:53.9
110 yd butterfly	Elaine Tanner	01:06.8	Judy Gegan	01:09.3	Ann Barner	01:09.7
220 yd butterfly	Elaine Tanner	02:29.9	Marilyn Carson	02:34.8	Ann Barner	02:35.0
440 yd individual medley	Elaine Tanner	05:26.3	Jan Murphy	05:28.1	Jane Hughes	05:34.1
4×110 yd freestyle relay	Canada Elaine Tanner Jane Hughes Louise Kennedy Marion Lay	04:10.8	Australia Janet Steinbeck Janice Murphy Lynette Bell Marion Smith	04:11.1	England Diana Wilkinson Jeanette Cave Pauline Sillett Susan Cope	04:17.3
4×110 yd medley relay	England Diana Harris Judy Gegan Linda Ludgrove Pauline Sillett	04:40.6	Canada Donna Ross Elaine Tanner Louise Kennedy Marion Lay	04:44.5	Australia Allyson Mabb Heather Saville Jill Pauline Groeger Lynette Bell	04:45.7

Weightlifting

Medallists and weights lifted in men's weightlifting by event

Event	For	Gold		Silver		Bronze
		Athlete	Weight	Athlete	Weight	Athlete	Weight
Bantamweight – Overall	Men	Precious McKenzie	319.5	Martin Dias	307	Chun Hon Chan	304.5
Featherweight – Overall	Men	Chung Kum Weng	337	Mahon Ghosh	334.5	Allen Salter	324.5
Lightweight – Overall	Men	Hugo Gittens	367	George Newton	354.5	Ieuan Owen	349.5
Middleweight – Overall	Men	Pierre St.-Jean	404.5	Horace Johnson	382	Russell Perry	372
Light Heavyweight – Overall	Men	George Vakakis	419.5	Sylvanus Blackman	414.5	Mike Pearman	409.5
Middle Heavyweight – Overall	Men	Louis Martin	462	George Manners	429.5	Dudley Lawson	422
Heavyweight – Overall	Men	Don Oliver	497	Arthur Shannos	464.5	Brandon Bailey	462

Wrestling

Medallists in wrestling

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Flyweight, Men	Muhammad Nazir	Shamrao Sable	Peter Michienzi
Bantamweight, Men	Bishamber Singh	Kevin McGrath	Muhammad Saeed
Featherweight, Men	Muhammad Akhtar	Randhawa Singh	Albert Aspen
Lightweight, Men	Mukhtiar Singh	Ray Lougheed	Tony Greig
Welterweight, Men	Muhammad Bashir	Richard Bryant	Hukum Singh
Middleweight, Men	Muhammad Faiz	Sébastien Donison	Michael Benarik
Light Heavyweight, Men	Robert Chamberot	Wallace Booth	Bishwanath Singh
Heavyweight, Men	Bhim Singh	Ikram Ilahi	Denis McNamara

External links

• "Kingston 1966". Commonwealthsport.com. Commonwealth Sport.
• 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games – Australian Commonwealth Games (archived 21 May 2007)

References

1. "Empire Games Moonlight opening ceremony" . Birmingham Daily Post. 4 August 1966. p. 25. Retrieved 11 December 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
2. "38 countries set Games record" . Belfast Telegraph. 4 May 1966. p. 22. Retrieved 7 December 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
3. "British Empire and Commonwealth Games Sabina Park & National Stadium, Kingston, Jamaica August 4-13, 1966". Amateur Boxing. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
4. "Commonwealth Shooting reports" (PDF). WTSF. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
5. "Louis Martin's win thrills Jamaicans" . Coventry Evening Telegraph. 10 August 1966. p. 16. Retrieved 11 December 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.

Preceded by Perth

British Empire and Commonwealth Games Kingston VIII British Empire and Commonwealth Games

Succeeded by Edinburgh