Athletics at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games

File:Seating pl gnangarra.jpg

The host stadium for the athletics events

At the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, the athletics events were held at Perry Lakes Stadium in Perth, Australia. The stadium, set in the suburb of Floreat, was purpose-built for the competition. A total of 31 events were contested, of which 21 by male and 10 by female athletes. The competition was affected by hot weather and soldiers from the Australian Army were called upon to supply athletes with water throughout the competition. Heavy wind also affected the programme, with the sprints and jumps most affected by the conditions.

The 1962 Games saw the reintroduction of the men's 3000 metres steeplechase and the women's 880 yards – events which had both been absent for four editions, having previously been held at the 1934 British Empire Games. Kenyan Seraphino Antao's double gold in the sprints, an achievement which marked a breakthrough in the sport for his country. Dorothy Hyman completed the same feat on the women's side. Peter Snell won gold medals in both the 880 yds and the mile run. In the men's 3 miles race, Ron Clarke found himself outdone by reigning Olympics 5000 metres champion Murray Halberg. Women's thrower Valerie Young built upon her 1958 shot put gold with victories in both the shot put and discus throw.

One Games record was improved at the competition: Dixie Willis set a new mark in the women's 880 yards run.

Medal summary

Men

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
100 yards	Seraphino Antao Kenya (KEN)	9.50	Tom Robinson Bahamas (BAH)	9.63	Michael Cleary Australia (AUS)	9.78
220 yards	Seraphino Antao Kenya (KEN)	21.28	Dave Jones England (ENG)	21.59	Johan du Preez Rhodesia and Nyasaland (FRN)	21.70
440 yards	George Kerr Jamaica (JAM)	46.74	Robbie Brightwell England (ENG)	46.86	Amos Omolo Uganda (UGA)	46.88
880 yards	Peter Snell New Zealand (NZL)	1:47.64 GR	George Kerr Jamaica (JAM)	1:47.90	Tony Blue Australia (AUS)	1:48.99
1 mile	Peter Snell New Zealand (NZL)	4:04.58	John Davies New Zealand (NZL)	4:05.12	Terry Sullivan Rhodesia and Nyasaland (FRN)	4:06.61
3 miles	Murray Halberg New Zealand (NZL)	13:34.15	Ron Clarke Australia (AUS)	13:35.92	Bruce Kidd Canada (CAN)	13:36.37
6 miles	Bruce Kidd Canada (CAN)	28:26.13 GR	Dave Power Australia (AUS)	28:33.53	John Merriman Wales (WAL)	28:40.26
120 yards hurdles	Ghulam Raziq Pakistan (PAK)	14.34	Dave Prince Australia (AUS)	14.48	Laurie Taitt England (ENG)	14.81
440 yards hurdles	Ken Roche Australia (AUS)	51.5	Kimaru Songok Kenya (KEN)	51.9	Benson Ishiepai Uganda (UGA)	52.3
3000 metres steeplechase	Trevor Vincent Australia (AUS)	8:43.4 GR	Maurice Herriott England (ENG)	8:45.0	Ron Blackney Australia (AUS)	9:00.6
4 × 110 yards relay	England (ENG) Alf Meakin David Jones Len Carter Peter Radford	40.62	Ghana (GHA) Bonner Mends Bukari Bashiru Michael Okantey Michael Ahey	40.74	Wales (WAL) David England Nick Whitehead Ron Jones Berwyn Jones	40.80
4 × 440 yards relay	Jamaica (JAM) George Kerr Laurie Khan Malcolm Spence Mel Spence	3:12.3	England (ENG) Adrian Metcalfe Barry Jackson Robert Setti Robbie Brightwell	3:10.2	Ghana (GHA) Ebenezer Quartey Frederick Owusu James Addy John Asare-Antwi	3:11.2
Marathon	Brian Kilby England (ENG)	2:21:17	Dave Power Australia (AUS)	2:22:16	Rod Bonella Australia (AUS)	2:24:07
High jump	Percy Hobson Australia (AUS)	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) GR	Chilla Porter Australia (AUS)	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	Anton Norris Barbados (BAR)	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Pole vault	Trevor Bickle Australia (AUS)	14 ft 9 in (4.50 m)	Danie Burger Rhodesia and Nyasaland (FRN)	14 ft 6 in (4.42 m)	Ross Filshie Australia (AUS)	14 ft 6 in (4.42 m)
Long jump	Michael Ahey Ghana (GHA)	26 ft 5 in (8.05 m)	Dave Norris New Zealand (NZL)		Wellesley Clayton Jamaica (JAM)
Triple jump	Ian Tomlinson Australia (AUS)	53 ft 2 in (16.21 m)	John Baguley Australia (AUS)		Fred Alsop England (ENG)	52 ft 7 in (16.03 m)
Shot put	Martyn Lucking England (ENG)	59 ft 4 in (18.08 m)	Mike Lindsay Scotland (SCO)		Dave Steen Canada (CAN)
Discus throw	Warwick Selvey Australia (AUS)		Mike Lindsay Scotland (SCO)	172 ft 6 in (52.58 m)	John Sheldrick England (ENG)	166 ft 3 in (50.67 m)
Hammer throw	Howard Payne England (ENG)	202 ft 3 in (61.65 m)	Dick Leffler Australia (AUS)		Robert Brown Australia (AUS)
Javelin throw	Alf Mitchell Australia (AUS)	256 ft 3 in (78.11 m) GR	Colin Smith England (ENG)		Nick Birks Australia (AUS)

Women

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
100 yards	Dorothy Hyman England (ENG)	11.2	Doreen Porter New Zealand (NZL)	11.3	Brenda Cox Australia (AUS)	11.4
220 yards	Dorothy Hyman England (ENG)	24.00	Joyce Bennett Australia (AUS)	24.21	Margaret Burvill Australia (AUS)	24.42
880 yards	Dixie Willis Australia (AUS)	2:03.85 GR	Marise Chamberlain New Zealand (NZL)	2:05.66	Joy Jordan England (ENG)	2:05.96
80 metres hurdles	Pam Kilborn Australia (AUS)	11.07	Betty Moore England (ENG)	11.40	Avis McIntosh New Zealand (NZL)	11.47
4 × 110 yards relay	Australia (AUS) Brenda Cox Betty Cuthbert Glenys Beasley Joyce Bennett	46.71	England (ENG) Ann Packer Dorothy Hyman Daphne Arden Betty Moore	46.81	New Zealand (NZL) Avis McIntosh Doreen Porter Molly Cowan Nola Bond	46.93
High jump	Robyn Woodhouse Australia (AUS)	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	Helen Frith Australia (AUS)	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	Michele Mason Australia (AUS)	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Long jump	Pam Kilborn Australia (AUS)		Helen Frith Australia (AUS)		Janet Knee Australia (AUS)
Shot put	Valerie Young New Zealand (NZL)		Jean Roberts Australia (AUS)		Suzanne Allday England (ENG)	44 ft 6 in (13.56 m)
Discus throw	Valerie Young New Zealand (NZL)		Rosslyn Williams Australia (AUS)	153 ft 1 in (46.66 m)	Mary McDonald Australia (AUS)	151 ft 8 in (46.23 m)
Javelin throw	Sue Platt England (ENG)		Rosemary Morgan England (ENG)		Anna Pazera Australia (AUS)

Medal table

Key

  The host country is highlighted in lavender blue

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Australia	12	12	13	37
2	England	7	8	5	20
3	New Zealand	5	4	2	11
4	Jamaica	2	1	1	4
5	Kenya	2	1	0	3
6	Ghana	1	1	1	3
7	Canada	1	0	2	3
8	Pakistan	1	0	0	1
9	Scotland	0	2	0	2
10	Rhodesia and Nyasaland	0	1	2	3
11	Bahamas	0	1	0	1
12	Uganda	0	0	2	2
	Wales	0	0	2	2
14	Barbados	0	0	1	1
Total		31	31	31	93

References

Results

• Commonwealth Games Medallists - Men. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2010-08-28.
• Commonwealth Games Medallists - Women. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2010-08-28.