Commonwealth Games History 1966
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Commonwealth Shooting Reports/results 1966-2018 Shooting sports have been contested at the Commonwealth Games at every games since 1966 with the exception of the 1970 Commonwealth Games. Events were open until they were segregated by gender in 1994 for pistol and most rifle events and in 2002 for trap and skeet events; the full bore rifle competitions remained open. 1966 - Kingston The 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Kingston Jamaica, from 4 to 13 August 1966. This was the first time that the Games had been held outside the so-called White Dominions. They were followed by the 1966 Commonwealth Paraplegic Games for wheelchair athletes. Jamaica remains the only host nation of a Commonwealth Games that did not win at least one gold medal in its own games. Shooting which was held in these Games for the first time, attracted the second highest number of countries (only Athletics had more) It proved one of the best organized of the nine Sports, and the fact that things ran so smoothly can be attributed to the tremendous co-operation received from everyone concerned, the Organising Committee, the various sub committees and Brigadier David Smith Officers and Men of Jamaica Defence Force. There were five shooting events. The .303 Calibre Service rifle was fired at Twickenham Park Range over Queens Prize Course, the first stage Friday, August 5, the second on Saturday August 6, and the final on Monday, August 8. Three Pistol events and the .22 calibre small-bore Rifle Prone Match were fired on the Wareeika Ranges. The Jamaica Rifle Association was most happy to welcome to Jamaica Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Palmer, Mr. Palmer being the Official I. S. U. Representative for the Pistol and small-bore Rifle Shooting; Capt. LeMesurier, Secretary of the N.R.A, of England who came to supervise the running of the service Rifle Events; Lt. Col. G . Hawkins, Chief Range Officer for the Full - bore Rifle matches; P.J. McMahon, Chief Range Officer for the Small- bore Rifle and Pistol Events; Sqd. Leader C. Lacedy-Stevens, Asst. Range Officer for the Full-bore Rifle Event; Bill White, Armourer, and D. J. Black of England. They did a tremendous job and helped considerably in the smooth operation of Shooting. Also, to Major M. C. Walsh of the Jamaica Defence Force for placing his workshop at the disposal of Bill White the Armourer, and for having placed at our disposal, the services of Staff Sgt. John Sage. A meeting of the Shooting Technical Committee was arranged by the Federation and in attendance were representatives of the Federation and the 8th British Empire and Commonwealth Games Organising Committee. The Agenda for this meeting was similar to the Agendas drawn up for the other sports. At this meeting Bernard Cridland was elected Chairman and Anthony Williamson, Hon. Secretary. A further meeting was held on July 31, but at the first meeting the International juries were appointed. SERVICE RIFLE S.R.(b)EVENTS Fired under Queens prize conditions first, second and third stages, This event was won by Lord Swansea with a remarkably high score of 394, Swansea out of a possible 405 made up as follows: 103 out of IO5 in the first stage, 146 out of 150 in the second stage 145 out of I5O in the third stage. Second after a tie shoot was R.G Stewart of Papua and New Guinea with a score 381 and third T.N Sutherland, New Zealand also with a score of 381. FREE PISTOL The Free Pistol Match was on Thursday, August 9 and found Charles Sexton of England the winner with a score of 544, second Jules Sobrian of Canada with a score of 538, and third Garfield McMahon of Canada with a score of 336. CENTRE-FIRE PISTOL MATCH Shot on Wednesday, August 10 this Match produced Jamaica's only Shooting Medal, a third place Bronze for Billy Machado. Machado led the field at the end of the Precision shooting with a score of 288. Nearest to him at that stage was Gilbert Shaw of Jamaica with 284, Garfield McMahon of Canada with 284, Bert Manhin - Trinidad 283, James Lee of Canada and Anthony Clark of England with 282 each. Unfortunately, Machado was not able to produce his best form for the Silhouette Shooting held that afternoon and first place for the Match was taken by Lee with a score of 576. Second was Clark with a score of 575 and third Machado with a score of 571. RAPID FIRE PISTOL MATCH Held on Thursday, August 11, the range was visited by T.R.H. Prince Philip, Prince Charles and Princess Anne with a Party which included the Chairman of the Federation, Sir Arthur Porritt and the Chairman of the Organising Committee, Mr. Herbert Macdonald. The match was won by Anthony Clark of England with a was score won of by 585, Second was Michael Papps (Australia) with a score of 578 and third was Jules Sobrian (Canada) with a score of 572. SMALL-BORE RIFLE This Match was fired on Friday, August 12 in variable weather conditions and had the most entries of any of the Shooting competitions as there were 32 Shooters involved. In view of the limited firing point accommodation (twenty) and as is permitted by I. S. U. Rules, we divided them in half, one half firing first squad morning and first squad afternoon, the other half second squad morning and second squad afternoon. The Match was won by Gil Boa of Canada with a score of 587, second was Brian Lacey, New Zealand with 585 and third John Murphy of Australia with 584. GENERAL REMARKS It was indeed most disappointing to all who had any connection with Shooting in these Games, to learn that the City of Edinburgh who were awarded the 9th Games in 1970 had not included this Sport as one of those that would be staged there. When it became very evident that Shooting was to be omitted from the 9th Games, a protest Meeting was held at the Wareika Rifle and Pistol Range at which representatives from 14 of the 20 Shooting countries signed the following motion: "In view of the popularity of Shooting in the 8th British Empire and Commonwealth Games when the entries of 20 nations were exceeded only by Athletics, despite the fact that this is the first time that Shooting has been included, this Meeting urgently requests that representation be made through Constitutional Procedure, for the revision of the 1970 programme to include the sport of Shooting". This was incorporated in the draft of a letter, copies of which were taken away by Shooters and Team Officials to be sent to their International Shooting Associations. It is hoped that all International Shooting Associations in the Commonwealth will support the resolution and send it to their International Council for the Commonwealth Games, who in turn, if they approve, will forward the resolution to the British Commonwealth Games Federation in London with a copy, for information, to the Council for Scotland. During these Games the “Commonwealth Shooting Federation”, who will have their headquarters in London, was also formed. Manager/Coach Glen Williams Results 50m Rifle Prone - Men Thomas W. Dunn 583 points 50m Rifle Prone - Men Douglas D. Dyer 570 points Centre Fire Pistol - Men Robert S. Hassall 564 points Fullbore Rifle Queens Prize (Pair) - Open Lord John Swansea 394 (3 Stages) points Fullbore Rifle Queens Prize (Pair) - Open John Pryor 372 (3 Stages) points Rapid Fire Pistol - Men Robert S. Hassall 568 points Christchurch 1974 cont. 1974 - Christchurch Following the tragic 1972 Munich Olympics’ Security in New Zealand at each of the venues and athlete village was tightened. The Christchurch 1974 British Commonwealth Games were the first large-scale international athletic event to follow the tragic massacre of the Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics Therefore, Christchurch was the first multi-sport event to place the safety of participants and spectators as its uppermost requirement. The athlete’s village, which was the student accommodation of Canterbury University, was surrounded by security guards and there was an exceptionally high-profile police presence. Only official vehicles and persons were only allowed into sensitive areas around the venues. Even so, Christchurch produced a wonderful Games and charmed the watching world as a city of beautiful churches and gardens. Christchurch was - and still is - the smallest city to host the modern televised Commonwealth Games. In these games Wales had 12 competitors competing. Winning two medals Silver medals with William (Bill) Watkins in the 50m Prone event and Philip Lewis in the Trap event. Team was managed & coached by Glen Williams. 50m Free Pistol - Men Richard Cross 508 points 50m Free Pistol - Men Robert S. Hassall 509 points 50m Rifle Prone - Men William Watkins 591 points 50m Rifle Prone - Men Colin Thomas Harris 583 points Clay Pigeon Trap - Men Ronald Bevan 184 points Clay Pigeon Trap - Men Phillip Lewis 191 points Fullbore Rifle Queens Prize (Pair) - Open Lord John Swansea 375.25 points Fullbore Rifle Queens Prize (Pair) - Open Stanley Gray 383.28 points Rapid Fire Pistol - Men Robert S. Hassall 574 points Rapid Fire Pistol - Men Terry O'Dwyer 563 points Skeet - Men Ronald Bevan 187 points Skeet - Men Roger Rees 185 points Edmonton 1978 Cont. Edmonton 1978 The 1978 Commonwealth Games was held in Edmonton Alberta, Canada from 3 to 12 August 1978, two years after the 1976 Summer Olympics were held in Montreal, Quebec. They were boycotted by Nigeria, in protest of New Zealand's sporting contacts with apartheid-era South Africa, as well as by Uganda, in protest of alleged Canadian hostility towards the government of Idi Amin.