1982 Commonwealth Games

Coordinates: 27°33′30″S 153°3′44″E / 27.55833°S 153.06222°E / -27.55833; 153.06222
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

XII Commonwealth Games
Host cityBrisbane, Australia
MottoThe Friendly Games
Nations46
Athletes1,583
Events141 events in 12 sports
Opening30 September 1982
Closing9 October 1982
Opened byPrince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Athlete's OathTracey Wickham
Queen's Baton Final RunnerRaelene Boyle
Main venueQEII Stadium
← XI
XIII →

The 1982 Commonwealth Games was held in Brisbane, Australia, from 30 September to 9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium (named after Elizabeth II), in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the athletics and archery events venue.[1] Other events were held at the purpose-built Sleeman Sports Complex in Chandler.

The Chairman of the 1982 Commonwealth Games was Sir Edward Williams.[2] The 1982 Commonwealth Games Logo was designed by Paulo Ferreira, who was the winner of a nationwide competition held in 1982.[3][4][5] The symbol is derived from the form of a bounding kangaroo. The three bands, forming stylized A's (for Australia), and a bicycle frame representing Cycling they are in colours which are common to flags of many Commonwealth countries.

The mascot for the games was a cartoon kangaroo called Matilda.[6] A 13-metre-high (42.65 feet) mechanical kangaroo travelled around the stadium and winked at the crowd.

The event was officially opened by The Duke of Edinburgh and closed by Elizabeth II.

Host selection[edit]

Bidding for the XII Commonwealth Games was held in Montreal, Canada, at the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics. Lagos, Brisbane, Kuala Lumpur, and Birmingham were the bidding cities. On 14 July 1976, it was announced that Brisbane had won the rights to stage the Games[7] after the other candidate cities withdrew bids. Sixteen years after the Brisbane Games, Kuala Lumpur hosted the 1998 Commonwealth Games, while Birmingham hosted the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Brisbane was awarded the Games by default after being the only candidate city left at the bid election after Birmingham reversed its decision to submit an application.[7] Nigeria's boycott of the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal made Lagos' bid lobbying impractical.[8] The 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal were plagued with cost overruns, and bidding on a sports festival anywhere in the world was not good politically.[9]

Participating teams[edit]

Countries and places which competed at the 1982 games

Forty-six Commonwealth nations and territories took part in the 1982 Commonwealth Games.[10] A total of 1,583 athletes and 571 officials participated in the event.[11] The Griffith University student dormitories in Gold Coast and the adjoining Nathan Campus were used as athletes' villages.[12]

Participating Commonwealth countries and territories
Debuting Commonwealth countries and territories

^ Note: The Falkland Islands debut at the games was partially poignant coming less than four months after the Falklands War.

Sports[edit]

Sports contested during the 1982 Commonwealth Games included athletics, archery, badminton, lawn bowls, boxing, cycling, shooting, swimming, diving, weightlifting and wrestling.[13]

Table tennis and Australian rules football were demonstration sports,[14] with the latter being demonstrated at a 6 October rematch at the Gabba of that year's VFL Grand Final, which took place just 11 days before at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Richmond won the demonstration rematch with a score of 28.16 (184) to Carlton's 26.10 (166).[15]

Venues[edit]

Highlights[edit]

Opening ceremony (30 September)[edit]

Opening ceremony of the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane with mascot Matilda winking to the crowd, 30 September 1982

The ceremony at the QEII Stadium was held on a fine but extremely windy day. The wind was so strong that skydivers who were going to descend into the stadium were cancelled.[11] Instead they made an entrance at the closing ceremony.

Day 1 (1 October)[edit]

The first event of the Games was 100 kilometres (62 mi) Road Trial in cycling. England won the Gold Medal in the event, and Australia won the Silver Medal—coming second to England by only six seconds.

Other sports which were contested on the first day of competition included swimming and diving, weightlifting, shooting and bowls.

Day 2 (2 October)[edit]

Sports contested included swimming, diving, weightlifting, shooting, cycling, bowls and archery.

The day was marred by both Australia and Canada being disqualified in the 4 × 100 metres relay in swimming, both problems occurring during change-overs. The medals awarded for this race went to England, Scotland and New Zealand.

Day 4 (4 October)[edit]

Sports contested included swimming, diving, cycling, athletics, archery, hammer throwing and shooting.

The day was marred when Canada was again disqualified, this time in the 4 × 200 metres freestyle relay. Canada protested against the winners, Australia, as well as against their own disqualification.

Closing ceremony[edit]

Her Majesty The Queen at the Closing Ceremony of the Games

Elizabeth II closed the Games during a colourful ceremony, which included parachute jumpers (who had originally been also intended as part of the Opening Ceremony display) jumping and landing in a special target area within the stadium and red, white and blue balloons. Matilda the Kangaroo also winked at the Queen. Following the closing of the Games, the Queen and the Duke left the stand to be driven from the stadium. However, nobody wanted the Games to end and the Australian team formed a 'guard of honour' and ran beside and behind the car in which Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip were travelling, as it circled the stadium several times before finally leaving.[17] Team members from other countries also joined in running after the royal car.

Aboriginal movement protests[edit]

The Brisbane Commonwealth Games were also noted by large-scale protests by the Aboriginal rights movement in Australia, which brought to the centre of international media attention the lack of Indigenous land rights in Australia, poor living condition and suppression of personal and political rights in Queensland in particular, and in Australia as a whole.[18] One of the targets of the protests was Queensland's Aborigines Act 1971,[19] which restricted and controlled the lives of Aboriginal people in Queensland.[20]

There were large marches on 26 September (2,000 people), 20 September (1000), and a sit-in of 104 people on 4 October. Also on that day, around 20 spectators held Aboriginal flags in the stadium during the entire program. On 7 October, about 500 people attended another protest, and 400 police arrested 260 people, including then Governor-General's daughter, Ann Stephen.[21] The protests were all peaceful, but police came out in force and blocked roads, making arrests under Queensland's Traffic Act.[22]

Activists taking part in the protests included Gary Foley[19] and Bob Weatherall (both leaders of the protest); Billy Craigie;[22] Lyall Munro Jnr;[23] Ross Watson;[21] Wayne Wharton;[24] and Selwyn Johnson and his family. Selwyn's brother Hedley Johnson was a musician, of the Brisbane group Mop and the Dropouts. Their song, "Brisbane Blacks", written by Mop Conlon, became a kind of anthem for the protests.[25][26][27]

Bob Weatherall, a Kamilaroi elder, is a lifelong activist,[28] a researcher in Aboriginal history,[29] and musical collaborator with Brisbane band Halfway[30]

The protests, which were followed by large-scale arrests, are a significant event in the history of the Australian Aboriginal rights movement.[31][32][33] When the Commonwealth Games returned to Australia in 2018 at the Gold Coast, it drew a series of peaceful protests.[21][24]

The classic Australian film "Guniwaya Ngigu (We Fight)" documents the Aboriginal protest movement during the Commonwealth Games, and was directed by Madeline McGrady and Tracey Moffatt, and produced by Maureen Watson, Tiga Bayles and Madeline McGrady.

Legacy[edit]

In 2009 as part of the Q150 celebrations, the 1982 Commonwealth Games were announced as one of the Q150 Icons of Queensland for its role as a "Defining Moment".[34] Brisbane also bid for the 1992 Summer Olympics but lost to Barcelona. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced on 9 December 2019 that the state will make an official bid for the 2032 Summer Olympics featuring venues across Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast.[35][36]

Medals by country[edit]

This is the full table of the medal count of the 1982 Commonwealth Games. These rankings sort by the number of gold medals earned by a country. The number of silvers is taken into consideration next and then the number of bronze. If, after the above, countries are still tied, equal ranking is given and they are listed alphabetically. This follows the system used by the IOC, IAAF and BBC.

  *   Host nation (Australia)

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Australia (AUS)*393929107
2 England (ENG)383832108
3 Canada (CAN)26233382
4 Scotland (SCO)861226
5 New Zealand (NZL)581326
6 India (IND)58316
7 Nigeria (NGR)50813
8 Wales (WAL)4419
9 Kenya (KEN)42410
10 Bahamas (BAH)2226
11 Jamaica (JAM)2114
12 Tanzania (TAN)1225
13 Hong Kong (HKG)1012
 Malaysia (MAS)1012
15 Fiji (FIJ)1001
 Zimbabwe (ZIM)1001
17 Northern Ireland (NIR)0336
18 Uganda (UGA)0303
19 Zambia (ZAM)0156
20 Guernsey (GUE)0112
21 Bermuda (BER)0011
 Eswatini (SWZ)0011
 Singapore (SIN)0011
Totals (23 entries)143141154438

Medals by event[edit]

Aquatics[edit]

Archery[edit]

Athletics[edit]

Badminton[edit]

Bowls[edit]

Boxing[edit]

Event Gold Silver Bronze
Light Flyweight Men  Abraham Wachire (KEN)  John Lyon (ENG)  Lucky Siame (ZAM)
 Leonard Makhanya (SWZ)
Flyweight Men  Michael Mutua (KEN)  Joseph Kelly (SCO)  Grant Richards (AUS)
 Albert Musankabala (ZAM)
Bantamweight Men  Joe Orewa (NGR)  Roy Webb (NIR)  Ray Gilbody (ENG)
 Richard Reilly (AUS)
Featherweight Men  Peter Konyegwachie (NGR)  Peter Hanlon (ENG)  Rodney Harberger (AUS)
 Winfred Kabunda (ZAM)
Lightweight Men  Hussein Khalili (KEN)  James McDonnell (ENG)  Brian Tink (AUS)
 Steve Larrimore (BAH)
Light Welterweight Men  Christopher Ossai (NGR)  Charles Owiso (KEN)  Clyde McIntosh (ENG)
 David Chibuye (ZAM)
Welterweight Men  Chris Pyatt (ENG)  Laston Mukobe (ZAM)  Charles Nwokolo (NGR)
 Chenanda Machaiah (IND)
Light Middleweight Men  Shawn O'Sullivan (CAN)  Nick Croombes (ENG)  Roland Omoruyi (NGR)
 Tom Corr (NIR)
Middleweight Men  Jimmy Price (ENG)  Douglas Sam (AUS)  Jeremiah Okoroduddu (NGR)
 Kevin McDermott (CAN)
Light Heavyweight Men  Fine Sani (FIJ)  Jonathan Kirisa (UGA)  Kevin Barry (NZL)
 Joseph Poto (ZAM)
Heavyweight Men  Willie DeWit (CAN)  Harold Hylton (ENG)  William Isangura (TAN)
 Mohammed Abdallah (KEN)

Cycling[edit]

Diving[edit]

Shooting[edit]

Pistol

Event Gold Silver Bronze
50m Free Pistol Men/Open  Tom Guinn (CAN) 553  Geoffrey Robinson (ENG) 543  Phil Adams (AUS) 540
50m Free Pistol – Pairs Men/Open  Phil Adams & John Tremelling (AUS) 1077  Barrie Wickins & Rex Hamilton (NZL) 1075  Geoffrey Robinson & Frank Wyatt (ENG) 1074
25m Centre-Fire Pistol Men/Open  John Cooke (ENG) 580  James Cairns (SCO) 579  Noel Ryan (AUS) 577
25m Centre-Fire Pistol – Pairs Men/Open  Noel Ryan & Alexander Taransky (AUS) 1151  Mohinder Lal & Ashok Pandit (IND) 1138  John Cooke & John Gough (ENG) 1131
25m Rapid-Fire Pistol Men/Open  Lee Kui Nang (HKG) 583  Jim Timmerman (CAN) 583  John Cooke (ENG) 582
25m Rapid-Fire Pistol – Pairs Men/Open  Peter Heuke & Alexander Taransky (AUS) 1160  James Cairns & Hugh Hunter (SCO) 1152  Sharad Chauran & Ramakrishnan Vijay (IND) 1151
10m Air Pistol Men/Open  George Darling (ENG) 576  Phil Adams (AUS) 573  Tom Guinn (CAN) 571
10m Air Pistol – Pairs Men/Open  Phil Adams & Gregory Colber (AUS) 1128  Geoffrey Robinson & George Darling (ENG) 1126  Jim Timmerman & Tom Guinn (CAN) 1125

Rifle

Event Gold Silver Bronze
50m Rifle Prone Men/Open  Alan Smith (AUS) 1184  Malcolm Cooper (ENG) 1184  Bill Watkins (WAL) 1177
50m Rifle Prone – Pairs Men/Open  Malcolm Cooper & Mike Sullivan (ENG) 1187  Colin Harris & Bill Watkins (WAL) 1183  Patrick Vamplew & Ernest Sopsich (CAN) 1180
50m Rifle Three Positions Men/Open  Alister Allan (SCO) 1146  Malcolm Cooper (ENG) 1145  Guy Lorion (CAN) 1144
50m Rifle Three Positions – Pairs Men/Open  Malcolm Cooper & Barry Dagger (ENG) 2301  Guy Lorion & Jean-François Sénécal (CAN) 2279  Alister Allan & Bill MacNeill (SCO) 2277
Full Bore Rifle Men/Open  Arthur Clarke (SCO) 387  Lord John Swansea (WAL) 385  Charles Trotter (GGY) 384
Full Bore Rifle – Pairs Men/Open  Keith Affleck & Geoffrey Ayling (AUS) 572  John Bloomfield & Dick Rosling (ENG) 570  David Calvert & Hazel Mackintosh (NIR) 563
10m Air Rifle Men/Open  Jean-François Sénécal (CAN) 574  Matthew Guille (GGY) 572  Malcolm Cooper (ENG) 570
10m Air Rifle – Pairs Men/Open  Alister Allan & Bill MacNeill (SCO) 1137  Malcolm Cooper & Barry Dagger (ENG) 1126  Norbert Jahn & Anton Wurfel (AUS) 1123

Shotgun

Event Gold Silver Bronze
Trap Men/Open  Peter Boden (ENG) 191  Terry Rumbel (AUS) 190  Peter Croft (ENG) 190
Trap – Pairs Men/Open  Jim Ellis & Terry Rumbel (AUS) 190  Peter Croft & Peter Boden (ENG) 186  James Young & Martin Girvan (SCO) 183
Skeet Men/Open  John Woolley (NZL) 197  Ian Hale (AUS) 196  Wally Sykes (ENG) 195
Skeet – Pairs Men/Open  Brian Gabriel & Fred Altmann (CAN) 191  Jim Sheffield & Wally Sykes (ENG) 190  Alex Crikis & Ian Hale (AUS) 190

Swimming[edit]

Weightlifting[edit]

Event Gold Silver Bronze
Flyweight – Overall Men  Nick Voukelatos (AUS) 207.5  Grunadan Kambiah (IND) 200  Lawrence Tom (NGR) 192.5
Bantamweight – Overall Men  Geoff Laws (ENG) 235  Bijay Kumar Satpathy (IND) 227.5  Lorenzo Orsini (AUS) 222.5
Featherweight – Overall Men  Dean Willey (ENG) 267.5  M Tamil Selvan (IND) 245  Chua Koon Siang (SIN) 242.5
Lightweight – Overall Men  David Morgan (WAL) 295  Bill Stellios (AUS) 285  Patrick Bassey (NGR) 277.5
Middleweight – Overall Men  Steve Pinsent (ENG) 312.5  Tony Pignone (AUS) 305  Jacques Demers (CAN) 302.5
Light Heavyweight – Overall Men  Newton Burrowes (ENG) 325  Guy Greavette (CAN) 320  Cosmas Idioh (NGR) 317.5
Middle Heavyweight – Overall Men  Robert Kabbas (AUS) 337.5  Peter Pinsent (ENG) 335  Mike Sabljak (AUS) 325
Sub Heavyweight – Overall Men  Oliver Orok (NGR) 350  Gary Langford (ENG) 350  Kevin Roy (CAN) 340
Heavyweight – Overall Men  John Burns (WAL) 347.5  Joe Kabalan (AUS) 325  Mario Leblanc (CAN) 315
Super Heavyweight – Overall Men  Dean Lukin (AUS) 377.5  Bob Edmond (AUS) 347.5  Bassey Ironbar (NGR) 320

Wrestling[edit]

Event Gold Silver Bronze
Light Flyweight Men  Ram Chander Sarang (IND)  Steve Reinsfield (NZL)  Maldwyn Cooper (CAN)
Flyweight Men  Mahabir Singh (IND)  Ray Takahashi (CAN)  Ken Hoyt (AUS)
Bantamweight Men  Brian Aspen (ENG)  Ashok Kumar (IND)  Chris Maddock (NZL)
Featherweight Men  Bob Robinson (CAN)  Cris Brown (AUS)  Augustine Atasie (NGR)
Lightweight Men  Jagminder Singh (IND)  Zsigmund Kelevitz (AUS)  Lloyd Renken (CAN)
Welterweight Men  Rajinder Singh (IND)  Ken Reinsfield (NZL)  Brian Renken (CAN)
Middleweight Men  Chris Rinke (CAN)  Wally Koenig (AUS)  Jai Parkash Kangar (IND)
Light Heavyweight Men  Clark Davis (CAN)  Kartar Singh (IND)  Nigel Sargeant (NZL)
Heavyweight Men  Richard Deschatelets (CAN)  Satpal Singh (IND)  Murray Avery (AUS)
Super Heavyweight Men  Wyatt Wishart (CAN)  Rajinder Singh (IND)  Albert Patrick (SCO)

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Queensland Sport and Athletic Centre". Austadiums.com. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  2. ^ "Commemorating the life of Sir Edward Williams". 2004. Supreme Court of Queensland Library. Archived from the original on 20 July 2008. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  3. ^ "Medal - XII Commonwealth Games, Brisbane, Gold, Uncirculated, Queensland, Australia, 1982".
  4. ^ "Episode 9 - Hugh Edwards".
  5. ^ "Australian Commonwealth Games Association". Archived from the original on 22 June 2005. Retrieved 2007-02-08.
  6. ^ "Australian Commonwealth Games Association". Archived from the original on 22 June 2005. Retrieved 2007-02-08.
  7. ^ a b Cole, John R. (1984). Shaping a city. Albion, Queensland: William Brooks Queensland. pp. 350–353. ISBN 0-85568-619-7.
  8. ^ Akinbode, Ayomide (12 August 2021). "Why Nigeria, 27 African Countries boycotted the 1976 Montréal Olympic Games – HistoryVille". Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  9. ^ Silverberg, David (4 August 2016). "The Disastrous 1976 Montreal Olympics Should Have Taught Host Cities a Valuable Lesson". Vice. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  10. ^ "Australian Commonwealth Games Association". Archived from the original on 13 May 2006. Retrieved 2006-03-17.
  11. ^ a b Phil Lutton. "Could the Gold Coast ever beat Brisbane's Games?". Brisbane Times. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  12. ^ "Past Commonwealth Games". Commonwealth Games Federation. Retrieved 25 September 2013.[permanent dead link]
  13. ^ a b McBride, Frank; et al. (2009). Brisbane 150 Stories. Brisbane City Council Publication. pp. 274–275. ISBN 978-1-876091-60-6.
  14. ^ "Provincial Councils". The Official Website of the Government of Sri Lanka. 3 September 2010. Archived from the original on 7 July 2009.
  15. ^ Greenberg, Tony (4 April 2018). "When the Tigers won Games gold". RichmondFC.com.au. Richmond Football Club. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  16. ^ The XII Commonwealth Games, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, September 30 - October 9, 1982 : The Official History. Brisbane: The XIIth Commonwealth Games Australia Foundation. 1983. ISBN 0959220712.
  17. ^ "Could the Gold Coast ever beat Brisbane's Games?". Brisbanetimes.com.au. 11 November 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  18. ^ Spencer Reiss with Carl Robinson, "Aborigines Vs. Queensland", Newsweek: International Edition, 11 October 1982, p. 13
  19. ^ a b Gary Foley -Aboriginal activist 1982 on YouTube
  20. ^ "Community history". State Library Of Queensland. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  21. ^ a b c "Commonwealth Games protested". Deadly Story. 28 February 2018. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  22. ^ a b Network Ten News (October 1982). "Aboriginal protests at the 1982 Games" (video) – via NFSA.
  23. ^ McBride, Laura (7 December 2021). "Lyall Munro". Australian Museum. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
  24. ^ a b Latimore, Jack (8 April 2018). "'The fight never left': Stolenwealth Games protesters draw on long tradition". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  25. ^ Forde, Susan (22 October 2019). "Pulling down fences". Griffith Review. Retrieved 21 November 2022. Saturday, 12 August 2016, Moree, New South Wales.
  26. ^ "Mop & The Dropouts' 1982 anthem 'Brisbane Blacks' gave permanence to protest - Double J". Double J. 2 June 2021. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  27. ^ Curr, Ian (3 October 2022). "Brisbane Blacks". Workers BushTelegraph. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  28. ^ "Yarnin' Time with Uncle Bob Weatherall". State Library Of Queensland. 13 November 2012. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  29. ^ ""We've got to bring them home … to journey into the spirit world": Bob Weatherall and his lifelong struggle for the rights of the dead". ABC Religion & Ethics. 6 July 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  30. ^ Comisari, Jerome (25 September 2021). "Bob Weatherall has a restless dream". ABC Radio National. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  31. ^ Foley, Gary. "A Short History of the Australian Indigenous Resistance 1950–1990". Kooriweb. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  32. ^ Land, Clare (27 August 2002). "Commonwealth Games (12th: 1982: Brisbane) - Event". The Australian Women's Register. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  33. ^ Foley, Gary. "Great Moments in Indigenous History" (photo). Kooriweb. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  34. ^ Bligh, Anna (10 June 2009). "PREMIER UNVEILS QUEENSLAND'S 150 ICONS". Queensland Government. Archived from the original on 24 May 2017. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
  35. ^ "Queensland government says 'yes' to bidding for 2032 Olympics". 7NEWS.com.au. 9 December 2019. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  36. ^ "Australia's giant Olympic risk explained". NewsComAu. 10 December 2019. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  37. ^ "Commonwealth Games Medallists - Boxing". Gbrathletics.com. Retrieved 28 August 2016.

Other sources[edit]

  • "XII Commonwealth Games – The Official Pictorial History" —Channel 9 "Today Tonight", O & B Holdings Pty. Ltd., (1982)

External links[edit]

Preceded by
Edmonton
Commonwealth Games
Brisbane
XII Commonwealth Games
Succeeded by
Edinburgh

27°33′30″S 153°3′44″E / 27.55833°S 153.06222°E / -27.55833; 153.06222