The 1994 Commonwealth Games (French: XV<sup>éme</sup> Jeux du Commonwealth) were held in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, between 18 and 28 August 1994. It was the 15th Commonwealth Games. These were the fourth and most recent Commonwealth Games to be hosted by Canada, after Hamilton 1930, Vancouver 1954, and Edmonton 1978.

The Games featured ten sports: athletics, aquatics (diving and swimming), badminton, boxing, cycling, gymnastics, lawn bowls, shooting, weightlifting and wrestling. Judo which had replaced wrestling in 1990 was dropped in favour of wrestling returning, the latter being dropped from the Games for the first time in 1990.

Host selection

Three bids for the 1994 Commonwealth Games were submitted. Victoria, New Delhi, and Cardiff were the bidding cities. On 15 September 1988, the Commonwealth Games Federation voted to award Victoria the 1994 Commonwealth Games.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto; margin-left:.5em;"

|+ 1994 Commonwealth Games bidding results

|-

!City

!Country

! Votes

|-

| Victoria || Canada || style="text-align:center;"| 29

|-

| New Delhi || India || style="text-align:center;"| 18

|-

| Cardiff || Wales || style="text-align:center;"| 7

|}

Venues

thumb|right|350px|The opening ceremony

Many of the venues were existing, with the Saanich Commonwealth Place being built for $22 million CAD being the biggest cost for a new building. Other new venues included four new lawn bowl courts and the velodrome.

  • University of Victoria – Athletes' Village
  • Centennial Stadium – Athletics
  • Saanich Commonwealth Place – Aquatics
  • McKinnon Gymnasium – Badminton
  • Archie Browning Sports Centre (Esquimalt) – Boxing
  • Victoria Memorial Arena – Gymnastics
  • Royal Theatre – Weightlifting
  • Juan de Fuca Recreation Centre
  • Juan de Fuca Velodrome – Track cycling
  • Juan de Fuca Bowling Club – Lawn bowls
  • Juan de Fuca Arena – Wrestling
  • &nbsp;(Patricia Bay Highway) – Road cycling A simple friendly atmosphere was the theme to the Opening Ceremonies. In the presence of Prince Edward, the Athletes had a long march past to their seated area (an idea created four years previously and emulated since at the 2014 Games in Glasgow). Welcome speeches and flag raisings were followed by a precision horse riding display by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. A visual and theatrical display by the Four Nations Tribes culminated in a massive Thunderbird symbol covering the entire inner field. This nickname, meaning "the laughing one", was given to Canadian painter and sculptor Emily Carr by the Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ Nation.

See also

  • Knowledge Totem Pole
  • Victoria bid for the 2022 Commonwealth Games

References

  • Commonwealth Games Official Site
  • 1994 Commonwealth Games Legacy Fund website