Athletics at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games – Men's marathon

Men's marathon
at the Commonwealth Games
Athletics at the 1954 British
Empire and
Commonwealth Games
Track events
100 ydmenwomen
220 ydmenwomen
440 ydmen
880 ydmen
1 milemen
3 milesmen
6 milesmen
80 m hurdleswomen
120 yd hurdlesmen
440 yd hurdlesmen
4 × 110 yd relaymenwomen
4 × 440 yd relaymen
Road events
Marathonmen
Field events
High jumpmenwomen
Pole vaultmen
Long jumpmenwomen
Triple jumpmen
Shot putmenwomen
Discus throwmenwomen
Hammer throwmen
Javelin throwmenwomen

The men's marathon event at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games was held on 7 August in Vancouver, Canada with a start and finish at the Empire Stadium.[1][2][3]

Jim Peters, then the world record holder in the marathon, entered the stadium in first place, believed to be 17 minutes ahead of the next runner and 10 minutes ahead of the Games record[4] but he collapsed seven times (one of the times laying down for over 2 minutes) and he eventually failed to finish, being disqualified after collapsing into the arms of an official.[5] After covering just 200 metres in 11 minutes, he was stretchered away and never raced again. "I was lucky not to have died that day", he later said.[6]

The race was won by Scotsman Joe McGhee.[7]

Results

[edit]
Rank Name Nationality Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) Joe McGhee  Scotland 2:39:36
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Jackie Mekler  South Africa 2:40:57
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Jan Barnard  South Africa 2:51:50
4 Barry Lush  Canada 2:52:48
5 George Hillier  Canada 2:58:44
6 Robert Crossen  Northern Ireland 3:00:13
Al Lawrence  Australia DNF
Bryce Mackay  Australia DNF
Rowland Guy  Australia DNF
Gérard Côté  Canada DNF
George Norman  Canada DNF
Keith Dunnet  Canada DNF
Les Stokell  Canada DNF
Stan Cox  England DNF
Jim Peters  England DNF
John Kay  Northern Rhodesia DNF

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Results". thecgf.com. Archived from the original on 26 October 2020. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  2. ^ "Results". The Manchester Guardian. 9 August 1954. p. 6. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  3. ^ "Results". The Sydney Morning Herald. 9 August 1954. p. 9. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  4. ^ "Dramatic end to marathon". Weekly Dispatch (London). 8 August 1954. Retrieved 7 April 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ^ "Peters Ahead, falls 7 times, is disqualified". Weekly Dispatch (London). 8 August 1954. Retrieved 7 April 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ Keating, Frank (2007-01-07). "'Two steps forward, three to the side. Oh, he's down again'". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 2024-02-18.
  7. ^ Great Sporting Moments: Athletics. The Independent. Retrieved on 2010-08-30.
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