The first official mulit-sport event between countries of the commonwealth was held in Hamilton, Canada in 1930. These Games were known as the British Empire Games. The Games were held between 16-23 August 1930, and included over 400 athletes from 11 countries.
Trivia
- Bobby Robinson, who was a major player within athletics in Canada at the time, was the driving force behind the event. He was an influential figure in Canadian athletics, and finally put into action a sports plan that had been talked and discussed amongst Commonwealth nations for almost three decades.
- To help cover the traveling costs for the visiting nations, the City of Hamilton provided $30,000.
- In the early rounds of the men’s 100m New Zealand’s Allan Elliott false started twice and was disqualified. The crowd reacted with such noise that the starter was unable to re-start the race until Elliott was allowed back in. Twenty years later in 1950 in Auckland the New Zealanders returned the favor.
![English runner Lord Burghley crosses the finish line at the 1930 Games](../images/1930-lord-burghley-pd.jpg)
Sports
There were six sports included in the program: Athletics; Bowls; Boxing; Rowing; Swimming; and Wrestling.
Medal Count
The following list includes the first four ranked teams. The ranking list for all years is available here.
Year | Country | GOLD | SILVER | BRONZE | TOTAL |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1930 | England Canada South Africa New Zealand |
25 20 6 3 |
23 15 4 4 |
13 19 7 2 |
61 54 17 9 |
Related Pages
- List of Commonwealth Games Host Cities
- Maybe Hamilton will host the 2030 Commonwealth Games
- Sport in Canada
- 1930 The Year in Sport
![send us a comment](https://www.topendsports.com/images/letter-icon.png)