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
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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 in Independence Park
• Fencing – Excelsior School Auditorium
• Shooting – Twickenham Park Range, Spanish Town ^[4]
• Swimming – National Aquatic Centre in Independence Park
• 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

•  Aquatics ( details )
  •   Diving ( details )
  •   Swimming ( details )
•   Athletics ( details )
•   Badminton ( details )
•   Boxing ( details )
•   Cycling ( details )
•   Fencing ( details )
•   Shooting ( details )
•   Weightlifting ( details )
•   Wrestling ( details )

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