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. The opening ceremony was the first Games to be opened in the evening. The event was 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.

Two sports; lawn bowls and rowing were dropped from the Games due to lack of facilities and were replaced by the debut sports of badminton and shooting. A record 38 countries competed at the Games.

thumb|right|200px|The National Stadium was the primary venue for the Games

Host selection

thumb|A Jamaican five-shilling coin commemorating the Games

Kingston was elected host by the CGF in Rome, Italy, during the 1960 Summer Olympics.

{| class="wikitable"

|+1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games bidding results

|-

! scope="col" | City

! scope="col" | Country

! scope="col" | Votes

|-

|Kingston

|21x21px Jamaica

| style="text-align: right;" | 17

|-

|Edinburgh

|21x21px Scotland

| style="text-align: right;" | 12

|-

|Salisbury

|21x21px Rhodesia and Nyasaland

| style="text-align: right;" | 5

|}

Venues

  • Cycling (track) – National Stadium in Independence Park
  • Cycling (road) –
  • Diving – National Aquatic Centre in Independence Park
  • Fencing – Excelsior School Auditorium
  • Shooting – Twickenham Park Range, Spanish Town
  • Swimming – National Aquatic Centre in Independence Park
  • Weightlifting - Ward Theatre
  • Wrestling – Kingston Convention Hall

Participating teams

thumb|250px|Countries that participated

34 teams were represented at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games.<br />(Teams competing for the first time are shown in bold).

Participating Commonwealth countries and territories:

  • —first appearance
  • 23px Australia
  • 23px England
  • 23px Fiji
  • 23px Guyana
  • 23px India
  • (host)
  • 23px Malaysia
  • 23px Mauritius
  • 23px New Zealand
  • Papua and New Guinea
  • 23px Sierra Leone
  • 23px Singapore
  • —first appearance
  • —first appearance

Medals by country

Sports

  • "Kingston 1966". Commonwealthsport.com. Commonwealth Sport.
  • 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games – Australian Commonwealth Games (archived 21 May 2007)

References