Host city | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada | ||
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Nations participating | 24 | ||
Athletes participating | 662 | ||
Events | 91 | ||
Opening ceremony | 30 July | ||
Closing ceremony | 7 August | ||
Officially opened by | Earl Alexander of Tunis | ||
Officially closed by | HRH the Duke of Edinburgh | ||
Athlete's Oath | Bill Parnell | ||
Main venue | Empire Stadium | ||
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The 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games (French: Jeux de l'Empire britannique et du Commonwealth de 1954) were held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, from 30 July–7 August 1954. These were the first games since the name change from British Empire Games took effect in 1952.
It was at these games that the "Miracle Mile" took place between Roger Bannister and John Landy at Empire Stadium. This was the first time these two (and at that time the only two) sub-four-minute mile runners appeared in the same race, and also the first time two runners broke four minutes in the same race. On the same afternoon, Jim Peters, the holder of the world best time for the marathon, entered the stadium 17 minutes ahead of his nearest rival, but collapsed on his final lap, and never completed the race.
The games were attended by 24 nations and 662 competitors.
24 teams were represented at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games.
(Teams competing for the first time are shown in bold).