    the 1938 british empire games was the third british empire games, the commonwealth games being the modern-day equivalent. held in sydney, new south wales, australia from 5â12 february 1938, they were timed to coincide with sydney's sesqui-centenary (150 years since the foundation of british settlement in australia). venues included the sydney cricket ground (the main stadium), the sydney sports ground, north sydney olympic pool and henson park. an estimated 40,000 people attended the opening ceremony. a competitors' residential village was established within the grounds of the sydney showground. the star of the games was the australian athlete decima norman, who won five gold medals in track and field. margaret dovey, the future wife of australian prime minister gough whitlam, finished sixth in the 220 yards breaststroke. due to the onset of world war ii, the games were not held again until 1950. ==participating teams== thumb|250px|countries that participated  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *   ==medals by country== {|  |-style="background:#ccccff" | 1 ||align=left|  || 25 || 19 || 22 || 66 |- | 2 ||align=left|  || 15 || 15 || 10 || 40 |- | 3 ||align=left|  || 13 || 16 || 15 || 44 |- | 4 ||align=left|  || 10 || 10 || 6 || 26 |- | 5 ||align=left|  || 5 || 7 || 13 || 25 |- | 6 ||align=left|  || 2 || 1 || 0 || 3 |- | 7 ||align=left|  || 1 || 0 || 0 || 1 |- | 8 ||align=left|  || 0 || 2 || 3 || 5 |- | 9 ||align=left|  || 0 || 1 || 0 || 1 |- | 10 ||align=left|  || 0 || 0 || 2 || 2 |- !colspan=2| total !! 71 !! 71 !! 71 !! 213 |} ==medals by event== ===athletics=== 
1938_British_Empire_Games 1938_in_Australian_sport 1938_in_multi-sport_events 20th_century_in_Sydney British_Empire_and_Commonwealth_Games_in_Australia Commonwealth_Games History_of_Sydney Sport_in_Sydney