1986 Commonwealth Games

The 1986 Commonwealth Games were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, between 24 July and 2 August 1986. This was the second Commonwealth Games to be held in Edinburgh. Thirty two of the eligible fifty nine countries (largely African, Asian and Caribbean states) boycotted the event because of the Thatcher government's policy of keeping Britain's sporting links with apartheid South Africa.

XIII Commonwealth Games

Host city	Edinburgh, Scotland
Nations	27
Athletes	1,660
Events	161 events in 10 sports
Opening	24 July 1986
Closing	2 August 1986
Opened by	Elizabeth II
Queen's Baton Final Runner	Allan Wells
Main venue	Meadowbank Stadium
← XII XIV →

The Games were commemorated on the UK’s first-ever £2 circulating coin, which showed a Scottish thistle upon the St. Andrew's saltire design on the reverse side of the coin.

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.^[1]

Controversies

In addition to the boycott, 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.^[2]

Several athletes 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

Due to the boycott only 27 teams from across the Commonwealth were represented at the 1986 Games.

Participating Commonwealth countries and Territories

Participating Commonwealth countries and territories
Australia  Bermuda[Note]  Botswana  Canada  Cayman Islands  Cook Islands  England  Falkland Islands  Fiji  Gibraltar  Guernsey Hong Kong  Isle of Man  Jersey  Lesotho  Malawi  Maldives  Malta  New Zealand  Norfolk Island  Northern Ireland  Scotland (host)  Singapore  Swaziland  Vanuatu  Wales  Western Samoa ^ Note: Bermuda withdrew from the games to join the boycott after the opening day of competition.[3]
Debuting Commonwealth countries and territories
Norfolk Island  Maldives

Boycott

1986 Commonwealth Games boycotting countries dark red

Thirty two of the eligible fifty nine countries (largely African, Asian and Caribbean states) boycotted the event 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 and the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Consequently, Edinburgh 1986 witnessed the lowest turnout since Auckland 1950.^[4] Bermuda was a particularly late withdrawal, as its athletes had appeared in the opening ceremony and in the opening day of competition before the Bermuda Olympic Association decided to formally withdraw.^[5]

Commonwealth countries and territories that boycotted the Games

Antigua and Barbuda[6]  Barbados[6]  Bahamas[6]  Bangladesh[6]  Bermuda  Belize  Cyprus  Dominica[6]  Gambia[6]  Ghana[6]  Guyana[6]  Grenada  India  Jamaica  Kenya[6]  Mauritius  Malaysia[6]  Nigeria[6]  Pakistan  Papua New Guinea[6]  St. Kitts and Nevis[6]  St. Lucia[6]  St. Vincent and the Grenadines  Solomon Islands  Sierra Leone[6]  Sri Lanka[6]  Tanzania[6]  Trinidad and Tobago[6]  Turks and Caicos Islands  Uganda[6]  Zambia[6]  Zimbabwe[6]

Opening ceremony

Banner celebrating the University of Edinburgh Quartercentenary in 1986

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.^[7]

Venues

• Balgreen, (Bowls)^[8]
• Barry Buddon (Shooting)^[9]
• Ingliston Centre (Boxing)^[8]
• Meadowbank Stadium (Badminton)^[8]
• Playhouse Theatre (Wrestling and weightlifting)^[10]
• Royal Commonwealth Pool (Aquatics)^[8]
• Strathclyde Park, Glasgow (Rowing)^[8]

Medals by country

  *   Host nation (Scotland)

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	England (ENG)	52	43	49	144
2	Canada (CAN)	51	34	30	115
3	Australia (AUS)	40	46	35	121
4	New Zealand (NZL)	8	16	14	38
5	Wales (WAL)	6	5	12	23
6	Scotland (SCO)*	3	12	18	33
7	Northern Ireland (NIR)	2	4	9	15
8	Isle of Man (IOM)	1	0	0	1
9	Guernsey (GUE)	0	2	0	2
10	Eswatini (SWZ)	0	1	0	1
11	Hong Kong (HKG)	0	0	3	3
12	Malawi (MAW)	0	0	2	2
13	Botswana (BOT)	0	0	1	1
	Jersey (JEY)	0	0	1	1
	Singapore (SIN)	0	0	1	1
Totals (15 entries)		163	163	175	501

Commonwealth games medal, Scotland, 1986

Commemorative medal Front side

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

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Light Flyweight	Scott Olson (CAN)	Mark Epton (ENG)	Johnston Todd (NIR)  Wilson Docherty (SCO)
Flyweight	John Lyon (ENG)	Leonard Makhanya (SWZ)	Kerry Webber (WAL)  Steve Beaupré (CAN)
Bantamweight	Sean Murphy (ENG)	Roy Nash (NIR)	Glen Brooks (SCO)  John Sollitoe (JER)
Featherweight	Billy Downey (CAN)	Peter English (ENG)	Chris Carleton (NIR)  Johnny Wallace (NZL)
Lightweight	Asif Dar (CAN)	Neil Haddock (WAL)	Lyton Mphande (MAW)  Joey Jacobs (ENG)
Light Welterweight	Howard Grant (CAN)	David Clencie (AUS)	Brendan Lowe (NIR)  Solomon Kondowe (MAW)
Welterweight	Darren Dyer (ENG)	James McAllister (SCO)	John Shaw (CAN)  Damien Denny (NIR)
Light Middleweight	Dan Sherry (CAN)	Rick Finch (AUS)	Glynn Thomas (WAL)  Alec Mullen (SCO)
Middleweight	Rod Douglas (ENG)	Jeff Harding (AUS)	Patrick Tinney (NIR)  George Ferrie (SCO)
Light Heavyweight	Jim Moran (ENG)	Harry Lawson (SCO)	Brent Kosolofski (CAN)
Heavyweight	Jimmy Thunder (NZL)	Doug Young (SCO)	Dominic D'Amico (CAN)  Eric Cardouza (ENG)
Super Heavyweight	Lennox Lewis (CAN)	Aneurin Evans (WAL)	James Oyebola (ENG)

Cycling

Track

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
Men
Time Trial	Martin Vinnicombe (AUS)	00:01:06	Gary Anderson (NZL)	00:01:06	Max Rainsford (AUS)	00:01:07
Sprint	Gary Neiwand (AUS)		Alex Ongaro (CAN)		Eddie Alexander (SCO)
Individual Pursuit	Dean Woods (AUS)	00:04:44	Colin Sturgess (ENG)	00:04:51	Gary Anderson (NZL)	00:04:54
Team Pursuit	Australia Glenn Clarke Brett Dutton Bill Hardy Wayne McCarney Dean Woods	00:04:27	New Zealand Gary Anderson Russell Clune Stephen Swart Andrew Whitford	00:04:34	England Chris Boardman Gary Coltman Rob Muzio Jon Walshaw Guy Rowland	overtaken
10 Miles (16 Kilometres) Scratch	Wayne McCarney (AUS)	00:19:41	Dean Woods (AUS)	00:19:41	Gary Anderson (NZL)	00:19:41

Road

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
Men
Road Race	Paul Curran (ENG)	04:08:50	Brian Fowler (NZL)	04:08:50	Jeff Leslie (AUS)	04:08:50
Team Time Trial	England Alan Gornall Deno Davie Keith Reynolds Paul Curran	02:13:16	New Zealand Blair Cox Graeme Miller Greg Fraine Paul Leitch	02:14:50	Northern Ireland Alastair Irvine Cormac McCann Joseph Barr Martin Quinn	02:16:13

Judo (demonstration sport)

Main article: Judo at the 1986 Commonwealth Games

Rowing

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
Men
Single sculls	England Steve Redgrave	7:28	Australia Richard Powell	7:33	New Zealand Eric Verdonk	7:39
Double sculls	Canada Bruce Ford Pat Walter	6:19	Australia Paul Reedy Brenton Terrell	6:21	England Carl Smith Allan Whitwell	6:34
Coxless pair	England Andy Holmes Steve Redgrave	6:40	New Zealand Barrie Mabbott Ian Wright	6:43	Scotland Ewan Pearson David Riches	6:43
Coxless four	Canada Grant Main Kevin Neufeld Paul Steele Pat Turner	6:01	New Zealand Andrew Stevenson Shane O'Brien Neil Gibson Don Symon	6:01	England Graham Faultless Richard Ireland Mostyn Field Humphry Hatton	6:06
Coxed four	England Martin Cross Adam Clift Andy Holmes Steve Redgrave Adrian Ellison	6:08	New Zealand Nigel Atherfold Chris White Greg Johnston Bruce Holden Andrew Bird	6:10	Australia Mark Doyle James Galloway Mike McKay James Tomkins Dale Caterson	6:11
Eights	Australia James Galloway Malcolm Batten Andrew Cooper Mike McKay Mark Doyle James Tomkins Ion Popa Steve Evans Dale Caterson	5:44	England John Garrett John Maxey Jonathan Spencer-Jones Mark Buckingham Patrick Broughton Richard Stanhope Stephen Peel Terence Dillon Vaughan Thomas	5:46	New Zealand Mike Burrell[11] Neil Gibson[12] Barrie Mabbott[13] Shane O'Brien[14] Andrew Stevenson[15] Don Symon[16] Carl Vincent[17] Ian Wright[18] Andy Hay (cox)[19]	5:48
Lightweight single sculls	Australia Peter Antonie	7:16	Canada Peter Tattersall	7:27	England Carl Smith	7:27
Lightweight coxless four	England Christopher Bates Peter Haining Neil Staite Stuart Forbes	6:26	Australia Simon Cook Brian Digby Merrick Howes Joseph Joyce	6:28	Canada Dave Henry Brian Peaker Bob Thomas Ryan Tierney	6:36
Women
Single sculls	New Zealand Stephanie Foster	7:43	Canada Lisa Wright	7:49	England Gillian Bond	7:53
Double sculls	New Zealand Stephanie Foster Robin Clarke	7:22	Canada Heather Clarke Lisa Robertson	7:49	England Diane Prince Claire Parker	7:55
Coxless pair	Canada Kathryn Barr Andrea Schreiner	7:35	England Pauline Bird Flo Johnston	7:42	Australia Catherine Hall Alison Smith	7:53
Coxed four	Canada Tina Clarke Tricia Smith Lesley Thompson Jane Tregunno Jenny Wallinga	6:50	Australia Deborah Bassett Susan Chapman-Popa Robyn Grey-Gardner Marilyn Kidd Kaylynn Fry	6:54	England Joanne Gough Ann Callaway Kate Holroyd Trish Reid Alison Norrish	7:06
Eights	Australia Annelies Voorthuis Deborah Bassett Vicki Spooner Margot Foster Marilyn Kidd Robyn Grey-Gardner Susan Chapman Urszula Anne Kay Kaylynn Fry	6:44	England Pauline Bird Alison Bonner Ann Callaway Kate Grose Joanne Gough Kate Holroyd Flo Johnston Alison Norrish Trish Reid	6:46	Bronze medal not awarded	[20][21]
Lightweight single sculls	Australia Adair Ferguson	7:45	New Zealand Philippa Baker	7:46	Canada Heather Hattin	7:52
Lightweight coxless four	England Alexa Forbes Gillian Hodges Lin Clark Judith Burne	6:55	Australia Deborah Clingeleffer Amanda Cross Virginia Lee Gayle Toogood	7:00	Canada Anne Drost Marni Hamilton Marlene van der Horst Wendy Wiebe	7:01

Shooting

Pistol

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
Men/Open
50m Free Pistol	Greg Yelavich (NZL)	551	Phil Adams (AUS)  Ho Kar Fai (HKG)	549
50m Free Pistol – Pairs	Canada Tom Guinn Claude Beaulieu	1099	England Paul Leatherdale Richard Wang	1090	Australia Phil Adams Bengt Sandström	1085
25m Centre-Fire Pistol	Bob Northover (ENG)	583	Phil Adams (AUS)	582	Rod Hack (AUS)	580
25m Centre-Fire Pistol – Pairs	Australia Phil Adams Rod Hack	1165	England Bob Northover Michael Cutler	1157	New Zealand Rex Hamilton Barry O'Neale	1153
25m Rapid-Fire Pistol	Pat Murray (AUS)	591	Adrian Breton (GGY)	588	Mark Howkins (CAN)	585
25m Rapid-Fire Pistol – Pairs	England Brian Girling Terry Turner	1169	Australia Pat Murray Jack Mast	1152	Canada Mark Howkins André Chevrefils	1150
10m Air Pistol	Greg Yelavich (NZL)	575	Tom Guinn (CAN)	574	Gilbert U (HKG)	574
10m Air Pistol – Pairs	England Paul Leatherdale Ian Reid	1143	Australia Phil Adams Bruce Favell	1143	New Zealand Greg Yelavich Barrie Wickins	1140

Rifle

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
Men/Open
50m Rifle Prone	Alan Smith (AUS)	599	Alister Allan (SCO)	598	John Knowles (SCO)	597[22]
50m Rifle Prone – Pairs	Canada Michael Ashcroft Gale Stewart	1175	Australia Donald Brook Alan Smith	1171	Wales Terry Wakefield Colin Harris	1165
50m Rifle Three Positions	Malcolm Cooper (ENG)	1170	Alister Allan (SCO)	1167	Jean-François Sénécal (CAN)	1150
50m Rifle Three Positions – Pairs	England Malcolm Cooper Sarah Cooper	2278	Canada Jean-François Sénécal Michael Dion	2276	Scotland Alister Allan Bill MacNeill	2241
Full Bore Rifle	Stan Golinski (AUS)	396	Alain Marion (CAN)	396	John Bloomfield (ENG)	395
Full Bore Rifle – Pairs	Canada Bill Baldwin Alain Marion	583	Australia James Corbett Stan Golinski	583	Northern Ireland David Calvert Martin Millar	582
10m Air Rifle	Guy Lorion (CAN)	588	Sharon Bowes (CAN)	583	Malcolm Cooper (ENG)	582
10m Air Rifle – Pairs	Canada Guy Lorion Sharon Bowes	1167	Australia Wolfgang Jobst Anton Wurfel	1151	England Malcolm Cooper Robert Smith	1146

Shotgun

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
Men/Open
Trap	Ian Peel (ENG)	195	Peter Boden (ENG)	192	Roland Phillips (WAL)	192
Trap – Pairs	England Peter Boden Ian Peel	185	Northern Ireland Tom Hewitt Eamon Furphy	183	Australia Terry Rumbel Domingo Diaz	183
Skeet	Nigel Kelly (IOM)	196	Joe Neville (ENG)	195	Brian Gabriel (CAN)	195[23]
Skeet – Pairs	England Joe Neville Ken Harman	195	Canada Brian Gabriel Don Kwasyncia	193	New Zealand John Woolley Jeff Farrell	189

Weightlifting

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
Men
Flyweight – Overall	Greg Hayman (AUS)	212.5	Charlie Revolta (SCO)	185	Alan Ogilvie (SCO)	177.5
Bantamweight – Overall	Nick Voukelatos (AUS)	245	Clayton Chelley (NZL)	217.5	Teo Yong Joo (SIN)	215
Featherweight – Overall	Ray Williams (WAL)	252.5	David Lowenstein (AUS)	250	Jeffrey Brice (WAL)	235
Lightweight – Overall	Dean Willey (ENG)	315	Ron Laycock (AUS)	307.5	Langis Côté (CAN)	290
Middleweight – Overall	Bill Stellios (AUS)	302.5	Louis Payer (CAN)	300	Neil Taylor (WAL)	270
Light Heavyweight – Overall	Dave Morgan (WAL)	350	Robert Kabbas (AUS)	325	Peter May (ENG)	317.5
Middle Heavyweight – Overall	Keith Boxell (ENG)	350	David Mercer (ENG)	342.5	Guy Greavette (CAN)	340
Sub Heavyweight – Overall	Denis Garon (CAN)	360	Duncan Dawkins (ENG)	332.5	Andrew Saxton (ENG)	327.5
Heavyweight – Overall	Kevin Roy (CAN)	375	Gino Frantangelo (AUS)	372.5	Andrew Davies (WAL)	370
Super Heavyweight – Overall	Dean Lukin (AUS)	392.5	David Bolduc (CAN)	347.5	Charles Garzarella (AUS)	342.5

Wrestling

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Men
Light Flyweight	Ron Moncur (CAN)	Duncan Burns (ENG)	David Connelly (SCO)
Flyweight	Chris Woodcroft (CAN)	James McAlary (AUS)	Nigel Donohue (ENG)
Bantamweight	Mitch Ostberg (CAN)	Steve Reinsfield (NZL)	Brian Aspen (ENG)
Featherweight	Paul Hughes (CAN)	Dan Cumming (AUS)	Stephen Bell (NZL)
Lightweight	Dave McKay (CAN)	Zsigmund Kelevitz (AUS)	Steve Cooper (ENG)
Welterweight	Gary Holmes (CAN)	Geoffrey Marsh (AUS)	Fitz Walker (ENG)
Middleweight	Chris Rinke (CAN)	Wally Koenig (AUS)	Tony Bull (ENG)
Light Heavyweight	Noel Loban (ENG)	Doug Cox (CAN)	Graeme English (SCO)
Heavyweight	Clark Davis (CAN)	Robert Algie (NZL)	David Kilpin (ENG)
Super Heavyweight	Wayne Brightwell (CAN)	Albert Patrick (SCO)	Keith Peache (ENG)

See also

• 1970 Commonwealth Games, held in Edinburgh
• 2014 Commonwealth Games, held in Glasgow.
• 2026 Commonwealth Games, to be held in Glasgow.