# 1934 British Empire Games

The 1934 British Empire Games were the second edition of what is now known as the Commonwealth Games, held in England, from 4–11 August 1934. The host city was London, with the main venue at Wembley Park, although the track cycling events were in Manchester. Seventeen national teams took part, including the Irish Free State (the only Games in which they participated, although an all-Ireland team competed at the 1930 Games).
The 1934 Games had been originally awarded to Johannesburg, South Africa, but the change of venue to London was made due to concerns regarding the treatment of black and Asian athletes by South African officials and fans.
Six sports were featured in the Games: athletics in White City Stadium; boxing, wrestling, and aquatics (swimming and diving) in the Empire Pool and Arena, Wembley; cycling in Fallowfield Stadium, Manchester; and lawn bowls at Paddington and Temple. Events for women athletes included a debut in athletics; the previous games had women's events only in swimming and diving.

## Participating teams

(Teams participating for the first time in bold).
* Australia
* Bermuda
* British Guiana
* Canada
* England (host)
* Hong Kong
* India
* Irish Free State*
* Jamaica
* New Zealand
* Newfoundland
* Northern Ireland*
* Scotland
* South Africa
* Southern Rhodesia
* Trinidad and Tobago
* Wales
*The affiliation of Irish athletes at these games is unclear, see Ireland at the British Empire Games § 1934 games

## Medals by country

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | England* | 29 | 20 | 24 | 73 |
| 2 | Canada | 17 | 25 | 9 | 51 |
| 3 | Australia | 8 | 4 | 2 | 14 |
| 4 | South Africa | 7 | 10 | 5 | 22 |
| 5 | Scotland | 5 | 4 | 17 | 26 |
| 6 | New Zealand | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 7 | British Guiana | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | Wales | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 9 | Northern Ireland | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 10 | Jamaica | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 11 | Southern Rhodesia | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 12 | India | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (12 entries) | Totals (12 entries) | 68 | 68 | 68 | 204 |

## Medals by event
### Boxing

| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Flyweight | Pat Palmer (ENG) | Maxie Berger (CAN) | Jackie Pottinger (WAL) |
| Bantamweight | Eddie Ryan (ENG) | Albert Barnes (WAL) | Thomas Wells (SCO) |
| Featherweight | Charles Catterall (SAF) | J. D. Jones (WAL) | William Fulton (RHO) |
| Lightweight | Leonard Cook (AUS) | Frank Taylor (WAL) | Harry Moy (ENG) |
| Welterweight | Dave McCleave (ENG) | Dick Barton (SAF) | William Duncan (NIR) |
| Middleweight | Alf Shawyer (ENG) | Leonard Wadsworth (CAN) | Jimmy Magill (NIR) |
| Light heavyweight | George Brennan (ENG) | George Holton (SCO) | Robey Leibbrandt (SAF) |
| Heavyweight | Pat Floyd (ENG) | Jan van Rensburg (SAF) | David Douglas-Hamilton (SCO) |

### Cycling
#### Track

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| Time Trial | Dunc Gray (AUS) | 1:16.4 | Bob McLeod (CAN) | 1:18.0 | Ted Clayton (SAF) | 1:18.4 |
| Sprint 1000 yd | Ernest Higgins (ENG) | | Horace Pethybridge (AUS) | | Ted Clayton (SAF) | |
| 10 mile Scratch | Bob McLeod (CAN) | 24:26.2 | Ted Clayton (SAF) | | William Harvell (ENG) | |

### Diving
#### Men's events

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 3 m springboard | John Brisco Ray (ENG) | 117.12 | Doug Tomalin (ENG) | 110.50 | Harry Class (CAN) | 106.57 |
| 10 m platform | Tommy Mather (ENG) | 83.83 | Doug Tomalin (ENG) | 83.63 | Louis Marchant (ENG) | 70.64 |

#### Women's events

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 3 m springboard | Judith Moss (CAN) | 62.27 | Lesley Thompson (AUS) | 60.49 | Doris Ogilvie (CAN) | 57.00 |
| 10 m platform | Dot Macready (ENG) | 30.74 | Lesley Thompson (AUS) | 27.64 | Cecily Cousens (ENG) | 27.36 |

### Lawn bowls

All events were for men only.
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Singles (details) | Robert Sprot (SCO) | William McDonald (CAN) | Charles Abbott (SAF) |
| Pairs (details) | Tommy Hills and George Wright (ENG) | William Hutchinson and Alfred Langford (CAN) | Thomas Davies and Stan Weaver (WAL) |
| Rinks (details) | England Fred Biggin Ernie Gudgeon Percy Tomlinson Robert Slater | Northern Ireland Percy Watson Charlie Clawson George Watson Cecil Curran | Scotland William Lowe Charles Tait James Morrison James Brown |

### Swimming
#### Men's

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 yd freestyle | George Burleigh (CAN) | 55.0 | George Larson (CAN) | 55.6 | Noel Crump (NZL) | 56.2 |
| 440 yd freestyle | Noel Ryan (AUS) | 5:03.0 | Norman Wainwright (ENG) | 5:07.8 | Bob Pirie (CAN) | 5:14.8 |
| 1500 yd freestyle | Noel Ryan (AUS) | 18:25.4 | Bob Pirie (CAN) | 18:28.4 | Norman Wainwright (ENG) | 18:33.2 |
| 100 yd backstroke | Willie Francis (SCO) | 01:05.2 | John Besford (ENG) | 1:05.6 | Ben Gazell (CAN) | 1:06.6 |
| 200 yd breaststroke | Norman Hamilton (SCO) | 2:41.4 | William McCarty (JAM) | 2:42.4 | Bill Puddy (CAN) | 2:42.8 |
| 4×200 yd freestyle relay | Canada George Larson George Burleigh Robert Hooper Bob Pirie | 8:40.6 | England Mostyn Ffrench-Williams Norman Wainwright Reginald Sutton Bob Leivers | 8:52.8 | Scotland George Anderson Henry Cunningham Merilees Chassels William Burns | 9:23.4 |
| 3×110 yd medley relay | Canada Ben Gazell George Burleigh Albert Puddy | 3:11.2 | Scotland Merilees Chassels Norman Hamilton Willie Francis | 3:15.2 | England Arthur Summers John Besford Mostyn Ffrench-Williams | 3:16.0 |

#### Women's

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 yd freestyle | Phyllis Dewar (CAN) | 1:03.0 | Irene Pirie (CAN) | 1:03.6 | Jean McDowell (SCO) | 1:05.8 |
| 440 yd freestyle | Phyllis Dewar (CAN) | 5:45.6 | Jenny Maakal (SAF) | 5:53.0 | Irene Pirie (CAN) | 5:54.4 |
| 100 yd backstroke | Phyllis Harding (ENG) | 1:13.8 | Margot Hamilton (SCO) | 1:15.0 | Valerie Davies (WAL) | 1:18.2 |
| 200 yd breaststroke | Clare Dennis (AUS) | 2:50.2 | Phyllis Haslam (CAN) | 2:55.4 | Margery Hinton (ENG) | 2:58.6 |
| 4×110 yd freestyle relay | Canada Phyllis Dewar Florence Humble Margaret Hutton Irene Pirie | 4:21.8 | South Africa Jenny Maakal Enid Hayward Kathleen Russell Molly Ryde | 4:34.0 | England Edna Hughes Beatrice Wolstenholme Olive Bartle Margery Hinton | 4:34.4 |
| 3×110 yd medley relay | Canada Margaret Hutton Phyllis Haslam Phyllis Dewar | 3:42.0 | England Phyllis Harding Vera Kingston Edna Hughes | 3:43.0 | Scotland Jean McDowell Margot Hamilton Margaret McCullum | 3:50.0 |

### Wrestling

All events were for men only.
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Bantamweight | Edward Melrose (SCO) | Ted McKinley (CAN) | Joseph Reid (ENG) |
| Featherweight | Robert McNab (CAN) | Joe Nelson (ENG) | Murdoch White (SCO) |
| Lightweight | Dick Garrard (AUS) | G. E. North (ENG) | Howard Thomas (CAN) |
| Welterweight | Joe Schleimer (CAN) | William Fox (ENG) | Rashid Anwar (IND) |
| Middleweight | Terry Evans (CAN) | Stanley Bissell (ENG) | Robert Harcus (SCO) |
| Light heavyweight | Mick Cubbin (SAF) | Bernard Rowe (ENG) | Alex Watt (CAN) |
| Heavyweight | Jack Knight (AUS) | Pat Meehan (CAN) | Archie Dudgeon (SCO) |