Cardiff, Wales 1958
The VI Games marked the largest sporting event ever held in Wales and it was the smallest country ever to host a British Empire and Commonwealth Games. Cardiff had to wait 12 years longer than originally scheduled to become host of the Games, as the 1946 event was cancelled because of World War II.
The Cardiff Games were to be South Africa’s last until their post-apartheid return to the Games in 1994.
Thirty-five nations sent a total of 1,122 athletes and 228 officials to the Cardiff Games and nine sports were featured:
- Aquatics (diving & swimming)
- Athletics
- Boxing
- Cycling
- Fencing
- Lawn Bowls
- Rowing
- Weightlifting
- Wrestling
“Scots Wha Hae” was replaced at Cardiff by “Scotland The Brave”, as the Scottish anthem and total of 144 competitors and officials was not far short of double the representation at London in 1934. Money had come from the public more readily than before, to permit the Scottish show of strength. Sir Alexander King’s “Cinema Sundays” helped the funds considerably and his appointment as Commandant was fitting. He was approaching 70 years of ages when he led the Scottish team into the arena.
The Team, apart from its Rowing component which left earlier, was scheduled to leave on Wednesday 16th July arriving in Cardiff that evening, 48 hours before the opening of the Games. With large entries the Athletics Technical Committee, meeting at Cardiff on the 9th had thought it expedient to run off some heats of track events on Friday 18th. The Scots protest was over-ruled and the competitors involved in the advanced heats were set off ahead of the others. A decision was also taken to allow four days for settling into the Games in the Home Countries. All but the rowing team were put up in the Empire Village at St Athan over 16 miles from Cardiff.
The standard of competition at the Cardiff Games was very impressive. Ten world records were broken and many new Commonwealth records were established. Ian Black was undoubtedly the star of the Scottish Team but other Golds came from the boxer John Brown and in Weightlifting from Philip Caira, while Peter Heatly contributed yet another Gold in the Diving events. The Athletics results proved disappointing but on the whole Scotland’s final tally of four Gold, five Silver and three Bronze medals was extremely satisfying.