1982 Commonwealth Games

Commonwealth Games
Name = 12th Commonwealth Games

Size = 250
Host city = Brisbane, Queensland, Australia | Motto = The Friendly Games
Nations participating = 45 Nations of the Commonwealth
Athletes participating = 1,580
Events = 143 events in 12 sports
Opening ceremony = 30 September 1982
Closing ceremony = 9 October 1982
Officially opened by = The Duke of Edinburgh
Queen's Baton = Raelene Boyle
Stadium = QEII Stadium

The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia from 30 September—9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium (named for Queen Elizabeth II). The stadium, which was later renamed the ANZ Stadium, is now called the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre. The stadium, which is at the Brisbane suburb of Nathan, was also the venue which was used for the athletics and archery competitions during the Games. [ [http://www.austadiums.com/stadiums/stadiums.php?id=5 Information on QEII Stadium, the arena used for the games] ]

The Chairman of the 1982 Commonwealth Games was Sir Edward Williams KCMG, KBE. Sir Edward later became the Commissioner General of Expo '88. He was also the Chairman of the Queensland Turf Club in the 80's until the early 90's.

The 1982 Commonwealth Games Logo was designed by Hugh Edwards, [ [http://www.commonwealthgames.org.au/GamesInfo/PastGames/1982/Logo.htm The Games' Logo] ] who was the winner of a nation-wide competition held in 1978. The symbol is derived from the form of a bounding kangaroo. The three bands, forming stylized A's (for Australia), are in colours which are common to flags of many Commonwealth countries.

Matilda the kangaroo mascot for the 1982 Commonwealth Games was represented by a cartoon kangaroo, [ [http://www.commonwealthgames.org.au/GamesInfo/PastGames/1982/Mascot.htm Information on the mascot of the Games] ] and a gigantic 13-metre (42 feet 8 inches) high mechanical "winking" kangaroo, who travelled around the stadium and winked at the crowd, and the Duke of Edinburgh.

Highlights

The 1982 Games were held from 30 September to 9 October, 1982, and included athletics, badminton, boxing, cycling, lawn bowls, shooting, swimming and diving, weightlifting and wrestling. [ [http://www.topendsports.com/events/commonwealth-games/hosts/brisbane.htm Dates and general informatin on the Games] ]

Opening Ceremony - 30 September

The ceremony at the QEII Stadium was held on a fine but extremely windy day.

Day 1 — (held on 1 October)

The first event of the Games was 100 km 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 — (held on 2 October)

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 x 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 3 — (held on 3 October)

:(information about events to be added)

Day 4 — (held on 4 October)

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

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

Day 5 — (held on 5 October)

:(information about events to be added)

Day 6 — (held on 6 October)

:(information about events to be added)

Day 7 — (held on 7 October)

:(information about events to be added)

Day 8 — (held on 8 October)

:(information about events to be added)

Day 9 — (held on 9 October)

:(information about events to be added)

Queen Elizabeth 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 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 the car circled the stadium several times before finally leaving. Team members from other countries also joined in the running after the royal car.

Sports

Sports contested during the 1982 Commonwealth Games included the following:

: Athletics | Archery | Badminton | Bowls | Boxing | Cycling | : Shooting | Swimming | Diving | Weightlifting | Wrestling

Medals table

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.

Medals by Event

For information about individual medal winners and events, see:

* Australia at the 1982 Commonwealth Games
* Athletics medal winners at the 1982 Commonwealth Games
* Archery medal winners at the 1982 Commonwealth Games
* Badminton medal winners at the 1982 Commonwealth Games
* Swimmimg medal winners at the 1982 Commonwealth Games

See also

*1982 Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony
*Australia at the 1982 Commonwealth Games
*Australia at the Commonwealth Games

Participating Nations

* 45 Commonwealth nations and territories took part at the 1982 Commonwealth Games. [ [http://www.commonwealthgames.org.au/GamesInfo/PastGames/1982/CompetingCountries.htm Competing Countries 1982 List of nations that took part in the 1982 Games] ]

Bids for the 1982 Commonwealth Games

In 1976, the bidding cities for the XIIth Commonwealth Games were: Lagos (Nigeria), Brisbane (Australia), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) and Birmingham (England). Brisbane won the rights to stage the Games.

References

* "XII Commonwealth Games - The Official Pictorial History" —Channel 9 "Today Nonight", O & B Holdings Pty. Ltd., (1982)

Notes

External links

* [http://www.commonwealthgames.org.au/Templates/Games_PastGames_1982.htm Official website of the 1982 games]
* [http://www.commonwealthgames.com Commonwealth Games Federation]
* [http://www.commonwealthgames.org.au/ Australian Commonwealth Games Association]