1970 British Commonwealth Games

IX British Commonwealth Games

Host city	Edinburgh, Scotland
Nations	42
Athletes	1,744 (inc. officials)
Events	121 events in 10 sports
Opening	16 July 1970
Closing	25 July 1970
Opened by	Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Athlete's Oath	Crawford Fairbrother
Queen's Baton Final Runner	Jim Alder
Main venue	Meadowbank Stadium
←  VIII X  →

The 1970 British Commonwealth Games were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, from 16 to 25 July 1970. This was the first time the name British Commonwealth Games was adopted, the first time metric units rather than imperial units were used in all events, and also the first time the event was held in Scotland. ^[1]

Also, the event saw the first unique Games trademark logo: an emblem showing the Games emblem intertwined with a St Andrews Cross and a thistle. The event was followed by the 1970 Commonwealth Paraplegic Games for wheelchair athletes. The 1970 Games was one of the most successful in the history of the event. ^{[2] [3]}

The Meadowbank Stadium

Host selection

In August 1966, the bid vote was held in Jamaica. The successful bidder was Edinburgh, Scotland with 18 votes beating Christchurch, New Zealand, with 11. ^[4] In 1967, an appeal fund was launched, aiming to raise £200,000 towards the cost of running the games. ^[5]

1970 British Commonwealth Games bidding results

City	Country	Votes
Edinburgh	Scotland	18
Christchurch	New Zealand	11

Participating teams

Countries that participated

42 teams were represented at the 1970 Games.
(Teams competing for the first time are shown in bold).

• Antigua
• Australia
• Bahamas
• Barbados
• Bermuda
• Canada
• Ceylon
• Dominica
• England
• Fiji
• Ghana
• Gibraltar
• Grenada : first appearance
• Guernsey : first appearance
• Guyana
• Hong Kong
• India
• Isle of Man
• Jamaica
• Jersey
• Kenya
• Malawi : first appearance
• Malaysia
• Malta
• Mauritius
•   New Zealand
• Nigeria
• Northern Ireland
• Pakistan
• Papua and New Guinea
• Saint Lucia
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
• Scotland (host)
• Sierra Leone
• Singapore
• Swaziland : first appearance
• Tanzania
• The Gambia : first appearance
• Trinidad and Tobago
• Uganda
• Wales
• Zambia

Venues

Pollock Halls of Residence and the Royal Commonwealth Pool

The Meadowbank Sports Centre was built for the 1970 Commonwealth Games, at a cost of £2.8 million. ^[6] It was opened by Prince Edward, Duke of Kent on 2 May 1970. ^[6] Adjacent to the main stadium were three sports halls for the fencing, badminton and wrestling competitions and a velodrome built at the cost of £90,000. ^{[7] [8]}

• Athletes' Village – Pollock Halls of Residence ^[9]
• Athletics, Opening and Closing Ceremonies - Meadowbank Sports Centre ^[1]
• Badminton – Meadowbank Sports Centre ^[1]
• Boxing – Murrayfield Ice Rink ^[1]
• Cycling (track) – Meadowbank Velodrome ^[1]
• Cycling (road) – Holyrood Park 102 miles (31 circuits) ^[10]
• Diving – Royal Commonwealth Pool
• Fencing – Meadowbank Sports Centre ^[1]
• Lawn bowls - Balgreen Bowling Club ^[1]
• Swimming – Royal Commonwealth Pool
• Weightlifting - Leith Town Hall ^[1]
• Wrestling – Meadowbank Sports Centre ^[1]

Medal table

  *   Host nation (Scotland)

Medals won by country

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Australia  (AUS)	36	24	22	82
2	England  (ENG)	27	25	32	84
3	Canada  (CAN)	18	24	24	66
4	Scotland  (SCO)*	6	8	11	25
5	Kenya  (KEN)	5	3	6	14
6	India  (IND)	5	3	4	12
7	Pakistan  (PAK)	4	3	2	9
8	Jamaica  (JAM)	4	2	1	7
9	Uganda  (UGA)	3	3	1	7
10	Northern Ireland  (NIR)	3	1	5	9
11	New Zealand  (NZL)	2	6	6	14
12	Wales  (WAL)	2	6	4	12
13	Ghana  (GHA)	2	3	2	7
14	Nigeria  (NGR)	2	0	0	2
15	Malaysia  (MAS)	1	1	1	3
16	British Hong Kong	1	0	0	1
17	Trinidad and Tobago  (TTO)	0	4	3	7
18	Zambia  (ZAM)	0	2	2	4
19	Singapore  (SIN)	0	1	1	2
20	Barbados  (BAR)	0	1	0	1
	Tanzania  (TAN)	0	1	0	1
22	Fiji  (FIJ)	0	0	1	1
	Gambia  (GAM)	0	0	1	1
	Guyana  (GUY)	0	0	1	1
	Isle of Man  (IOM)	0	0	1	1
	Malawi  (MAW)	0	0	1	1
	Saint Vincent	0	0	1	1
Totals (27 entries)		121	121	133	375

Sports

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

References

1. "Its a First for Scotland at IXth Commonwealth Games" . Leven Mail. 19 February 1969. p. 19. Retrieved 1 January 2026– via British Newspaper Archive.
2. "Glasgow makes final call for 2014 games". The Scotsman. Johnston Publishing. 9 May 2007. Archived from the original on 30 December 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
3. Buttle, Cameron (7 March 2013). "The good and bad of Commonwealth Games". BBC News. BBC. Archived from the original on 7 February 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
4. "Edinburgh Get 1970 Games". Glasgow Herald . 8 August 1966. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
5. "S.R.U. gift of £1,000 to Games fund". Glasgow Herald. 9 December 1967. p. 1. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
6. Inglis, Simon (1987). Football Grounds of Britain. Collins Willow. ISBN   0-00-218249-1.
7. "Edinburgh builds athletes village" . Aberdeen Evening Express. 29 June 1970. p. 6. Retrieved 1 January 2026– via British Newspaper Archive.
8. "Facilities for evey sport" . The Scotsman. 2 May 1970. p. 9. Retrieved 16 January 2026– via British Newspaper Archive.
9. "Remembering Edinburgh's 1970 Commonwealth Games". The Scotsman. 16 July 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2026.
10. "Cyclists spin round 'drome at 60 mph" . Dalkeith Advertiser. 12 March 1970. p. 10. Retrieved 1 January 2026– via British Newspaper Archive.

External links

• "Edinburgh 1970". Commonwealthsport.com. Commonwealth Sport.
• 1970 British Commonwealth Games – Australian Commonwealth Games official website

Preceded by Kingston

British Commonwealth Games Edinburgh IX British Commonwealth Games

Succeeded by Christchurch