1982 Brisbane Commonwealth Games

Overview

The Brisbane Commonwealth Games was held from the 30th of September to the 9th of October in 1982.

45 countries participated in the Brisbane Games, and there was a total of 1583 athletes and 571 officials.

The official mascot of the Games was Matilda, the winking kangaroo, and Brisbane's population was around 1.7 million people at the time of the games.

During the Opening Ceremony, the Australian flag was carried by Richard Mitchell. He later won two silver medals in the Athletics.

Preparing For The Games

The city council spent $19 million dollars and raised another $37 million dollars for upgrading of event venues.

A total of $100 million dollars was spent on the city.

Medals from the 1982 Commonwealth Games

Medal Tally Of The Top 10 Performing Countries

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Australia	39	39	29	107
2	England	38	38	32	108
3	Canada	26	23	33	82
4	Scotland	8	6	12	26
5	New Zealand	5	8	13	26
6	India	5	8	3	16
7	Nigeria	5	0	8	13
8	Wales	4	4	1	9
9	Kenya	4	2	4	10
10	Bahamas	2	2	2	6

Australia's Medal Tally Breakdown

Sport	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Archery	0	0	1	1
Athletics	9	9	4	22
Badminton	0	0	1	1
Bowls	1	1	1	3
Boxing	0	1	4	5
Cycling	4	3	1	8
Diving	2	2	1	5
Shooting	7	3	4	14
Swimming	13	13	8	34
Weightlifting	3	4	2	9
Wrestling	0	3	2	5
	39	39	29	107

Highlights of the 1982 Commonwealth Games

Julius Korir from Kenya, entered the 3,000 metres as an unknown. The experts gave him no chance of a medal, however the Nandi tribesman won the Gold medal with a time of 8 minutes 26.64 seconds.

The men’s 400 metres was always going to be a thriller. Australia’s Richard Mitchell and Bert Cameron of Jamaica were equal favourites. They did not disappoint with Cameron just winning the event, posting a time of 45.89.

The men’s 200 metre sprint was a tie. Wells and Mike McFarlane of England each posted a time of 20.43 seconds. It took officials twenty-five minutes before calling it a tie. Both athletes were awarded a Gold medal.