1986 Commonwealth Games

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The **1986 Commonwealth Games** were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, between 24 July and 2 August 1986. They were the second Games to be held in Edinburgh.

## Organisation

Unlike the 1970 Games in Edinburgh, which were popular and successful, the 1986 Games are ill-famed for the wide political boycott connected with them and the resulting financial mismanagement.

## Boycott

 File:1986 Commonwealth Games (Edinburgh) boycotting countries (red).png
The majority of Commonwealth nations staged a boycott, so that the Games appeared to be a whites-only event. Thirty two of the eligible fifty nine countries—largely African, Asian and Caribbean states—stayed away because of the Thatcher government's policy of keeping Britain's sporting links with apartheid South Africa in preference to participating in the general sporting boycott of that country. Consequently, Edinburgh 1986 witnessed the lowest number of athletes since Auckland 1950. Bermuda was a particularly late withdrawal, as its athletes appeared in the opening ceremony and in the opening day of competition before the Bermuda Olympic Association decided to formally withdraw.

### Boycotting nations

* 1. File:Flag of Antigua and Barbuda.svg Antigua and Barbuda
	2. File:Flag of Barbados.svg.png Barbados
	3. Bahamas
	4. File:Flag of Bangladesh.svg Bangladesh
	5. File:Flag of Bermuda.svg Bermuda
	6. File:Flag of Belize.svg Belize
	7. File:Flag of Cyprus.svg Cyprus
	8. Dominica
	9. File:Flag of The Gambia.svg Gambia
	10. Ghana
	11. File:Flag of Guyana.svg Guyana
	12. File:Flag of Grenada.svg Grenada
	13. India
	14. File:Flag of Jamaica.svg.png Jamaica

* 1. File:Flag of the Solomon Islands.svg Solomon Islands
	2. File:Flag of Sri Lanka.svg Sri Lanka
	3. Template:Country data St. Vincent and the Grenadines
	4. Sierra Leone
	5. Template:Country data St. Kitts and Nevis
	6. Template:Country data St. Lucia
	7. File:Flag of Kenya.svg.png Kenya
	8. File:Flag of Mauritius.svg Mauritius
	9. File:Flag of Malaysia.svg Malaysia
	10. Nigeria
	11. Pakistan
	12. File:Flag of Papua New Guinea.svg.png Papua New Guinea
	13. File:Flag of Trinidad and Tobago.svg Trinidad and Tobago
	14. File:Flag of Tanzania.svg Tanzania
	15. File:Flag of the Turks and Caicos Islands.svg Turks and Caicos Islands
	16. Uganda
	17. File:Flag of Zambia.svg Zambia
	18. File:Flag of Zimbabwe.svg Zimbabwe

## Controversys

Further controversy arose when it was revealed that through this much-reduced participation and the resultant decline in anticipated broadcasting and sponsorship revenues, the Organising Committee was facing a big financial black hole. The boycott ended any prospect of securing emergency government assistance. Businessman Robert Maxwell stepped in to offer funding, taking over as chairman; but although he promised to invest £2m, his contribution was just £250,000. On a budget of £14m, the Games opened with a deficit of £3m, which later grew to £4.3m, and instead of putting enough money into the event to save it, the new chairman of the Games asked creditors to forgo half the payment due to them to keep the event out of liquidation. The debt was finally paid off in 1989, with the city of Edinburgh losing approximately £500,000.

Several participants were excluded because they breached the amateurism rules, most notably lawn bowlers Phil Skoglund from New Zealand and Willie Wood from Scotland, both of whom have competed in subsequent games.

## Participating teams

 File:Commonwealth games 1986 countries map.PNG
27 teams were represented at the 1986 Games.

(Teams competing for the first time are shown in **bold**).

* Australia
* File:Flag of Bermuda.svg Bermuda (Withdrew after opening day of competition)
* File:Flag of Botswana.svg Botswana
* Canada
* File:Flag of the Cayman Islands (pre-1999).svg Cayman Islands
* File:Flag of the Cook Islands.svg Cook Islands
* England
* File:Flag of the Falkland Islands (1948–1999).svg Falkland Islands
* File:Flag of Fiji.svg Fiji
* File:Flag of Gibraltar.svg Gibraltar
* File:Flag of Guernsey.svg Guernsey
* File:Flag of Hong Kong 1959.svg.png Hong Kong
* File:Flag of the Isle of Man.svg Isle of Man
* File:Flag of Jersey.svg Jersey
* File:Flag of Lesotho (1966–1987).svg Lesotho
* Malawi
* **File:Flag of Maldives.svg Maldives**
* File:Flag of Malta.svg Malta
* New Zealand
* **File:Flag of Norfolk Island.svg Norfolk Island**
* Northern Ireland
* Scotland
* File:Flag of Singapore.svg Singapore
* File:Flag of Eswatini.svg Swaziland
* File:Flag of Vanuatu.svg Vanuatu
* Wales
* Template:Country data Western Samoa

## Opening ceremony

The theme of the opening ceremony celebrated the "Spirit of Youth" and included 6500 Scottish schoolchildren taking part in a series of large Mass Games-style Gymnastics routines. The theme song "Spirit of Youth" was written by Gerard Kenny. The ceremony began on the esplanade of Edinburgh Castle from which hundreds of schoolchildren ran down the Royal Mile, through Holyrood Park to Meadowbank Stadium.

## Venues

* Meadowbank Stadium
* Royal Commonwealth Pool
* Strathclyde Park
* Barry Buddon
* Balgreen, Bowls

## Medals by event

### Aquatics

Main article: Aquatics at the 1986 Commonwealth Games
### Athletics

Main article: Athletics at the 1986 Commonwealth Games
### Badminton

Main article: Badminton at the 1986 Commonwealth Games
### Bowls

Main article: Lawn Bowls at the 1986 Commonwealth Games
### Boxing

Main article: Boxing at the 1986 Commonwealth Games

## See also

* 1970 Commonwealth Games, held in Edinburgh
* 2014 Commonwealth Games, held in Glasgow.

## References

1. ↑ "The forgotten story of … Robert Maxwell's 1986 Commonwealth Games | Sport | theguardian.com". theguardian.com. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
2. ↑ "Scottish independence referendum will increase interest in Glasgow 2014, it is claimed | Glasgow 2014". insidethegames.biz. 29 February 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
3. ↑ Fraser, Graham (2014-04-25). Glasgow 2014: The Bermuda boycott of 1986 that still hurts. BBC Sport. Retrieved on 2014-11-02.
4. ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 4.18 4.19 4.20 "8 More Nations Join Boycott of Commonwealth Games; Total Now 23". Los Angeles Times.
5. ↑ "Glasgow makes final call for 2014 Games - Athletics - Scotsman.com". News.scotsman.com. 9 May 2007. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
6. ↑ Fraser, Graham (2014-04-25). Glasgow 2014: The Bermuda boycott of 1986 that still hurts. BBC Sport. Retrieved on 2015-08-19.
7. ↑ "Power From Within - Commonwealth Games 1986 Opening Ceremony - YouTube". youtube.com. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
8. ↑ "Mike Burrell". New Zealand Olympic Committee. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
9. ↑ "Neil Gibson". New Zealand Olympic Committee. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
10. ↑ "Barrie Mabbott". New Zealand Olympic Committee. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
11. ↑ "Shane O'Brien". New Zealand Olympic Committee. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
12. ↑ "Andrew Stevenson". New Zealand Olympic Committee. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
13. ↑ "Don Symon". New Zealand Olympic Committee. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
14. ↑ "Carl Vincent". New Zealand Olympic Committee. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
15. ↑ "Ian Wright". New Zealand Olympic Committee. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
16. ↑ "Andrew Hay". New Zealand Olympic Committee. Retrieved 29 October 2016.

## External links

* Commonwealth Games Official Site
* 1986 Commonwealth Games - Australian Commonwealth Games Association official website
* Video of the Opening Ceremony

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