Vancouver, Canada 1954
Scotland flew as a party for the first time, travelling to the Vancouver Games. Their Trans Canada Super Constellation inaugurated the first direct flights from Prestwick to Montreal. Even so, the journey took 13 hours.
Other arriving teams had been taken off by bus to Empire Village, seven miles from downtown Vancouver in the grounds of the University of British Columbia. Something like 30 of the Caledonian Society turned up and they insisted on taking the incoming Scots one per car, for a parade through city streets to the Village.
The Village proved to be a complex of huts and permanent buildings, used as student hostels, with self-service cafeteria, canteens, cinema, recreation halls, medical and telegraph facilities. Men and women were housed a mile apart. Mrs Peter Heatly, who had come out with her husband, became chaperone.
World attention at the Games fixed upon the “Miracle Mile” won by Roger Bannister in 3 mins 58.8 secs, with John Landy second in 3 mins 59.6 secs. Then it switched to the drama of the marathon, in which Scotland’s Joe McGhee took gold and England’s Jim Peters took the headlines by driving himself beyond endurance. He ran into the stadium for the last lap 15 minutes ahead of the field. Then began the harrowing spectacle of his falling and rising time and again on buckling legs, until he collapsed short of the tape.
But the glory of the Games for Scotland was the triumph of our three women swimmers in the medley relay. Helen O Gordon, Margaret Girvan and Margaret McDowall won in a new Games record time of 3 mins 51 secs. Victory against the swimming might of Australia, New Zealand, Canada and England had seemed too much to hope for.
Helen O Gordon won the 220yds breaststroke again – her first gold was at Auckland – in the Games record time of 2 minutes 59.2 seconds. Pat Devine, the lone woman in athletics, did not get among the medals, but equalled her best-ever time of 11.1 secs in the 100 yards.
Three boxers went out from Scotland. Three boxing medals came home. Dick Currie won the flyweight gold, John Smillie the bantam gold and Frank McQuillan was second in the lightweight division. Peter Heatly had victories with a gold in the springboard and a bronze in tower diving.
The Vancouver Games proved very satisfying from a Scottish point of view. The final tally of six Gold medals was more than had ever previously been achieved and the Scots also gained two Silver and three Bronze medals.