Cycling at the 1950 British Empire Games

Cycling at the 1950 British Empire Games
VenueWestern Springs Stadium
LocationAuckland, New Zealand
Dates4 – 11 February 1950

Cycling at the 1950 British Empire Games was the third appearance of Cycling at the Commonwealth Games. The track events took place at Western Springs Stadium, which had a 10 foot high banked concrete outdoor track, 18 feet wide and 515 yards in circumference.[1] The road race started on Tamaki Drive, progressed to Parnell and Ōrākei before finishing on Tamaki Drive.[2][3]

Australia topped the cycling medal table with four gold medals.[4][5]

Aerial view of the Western Springs Stadium in January 1950. Whites Aviation

Medal table

  *   Host nation (New Zealand)

Medals won by nation with totals, ranked by number of golds—sortable
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Australia4329
2 England1012
3 New Zealand*0224
Totals (3 entries)55515

Medal winners

Event Gold Silver Bronze
Time Trial Russell Mockridge
 Australia
Sid Patterson
 Australia
Tommy Godwin
 England
Sprint 1000m Russell Mockridge
 Australia
Sid Patterson
 Australia
Graham Avery
 New Zealand
4000m Individual Pursuit Cyril Cartwright
 England
Russell Mockridge
 Australia
Les Lock
 New Zealand
10-mile Scratch Bill Heseltine
 Australia
Les Lock
 New Zealand
Ken Caves
 Australia
Road race Hector Sutherland
 Australia
Nick Carter
 New Zealand
Jack Fowler
 Australia
Russell Mockridge (left)

1,000m sprint championship

[6] First Round

Repechage

  • Bazzano bt Stonex & Evans 13.7 sec

Quarter finals

  • Mockridge bt Bennett 2–0
  • Patterson bt Stonex 2–0
  • Avery bt Bazzano 2–0
  • Olive bt Godwin 2–0

Semi finals

  • Mockridge bt Olive 2–0
  • Patterson bt Avery 2–0

Third place

  • Avery bt Olive 2–1

Final

  • Mockridge bt Patterson 2–0

1,000m Time Trial

Pos Athlete Time
1 Australia Russell Mockridge 1:13.4 mins
2 Australia Sid Patterson 1:13.5 mins
3 England Tommy Godwin 1:13.6 mins
4 England Cyril Cartwright 1:15.1 mins
5 New Zealand Les Lock 1:16.2 mins
6 England Alan Geldard 1:16.5 mins
8 New Zealand Graham Hughes 1:17.1 mins
9 Canada John Millman 1:18.2 mins
10 Southern Rhodesia D. K. Bennett 1:18.6 mins
11 Southern Rhodesia E. Evans 1:18.8 mins
12 Australia Robert Carmichael 1:19.5 mins
13 Canada William Hamilton 1:19.8 mins
14 Southern Rhodesia E. P. Branfield 1:19.9 mins
15 Canada Lorne Atkinson 1:20.0 mins

4,000 metres individual purusit

[7] Heats (top 4 times qualify for semi-finals)

Semi-finals

  • Cartwright 5.21.2 bt Lock 5.34.0
  • Mockridge 5.28.0 bt Hamilton 5.29.8

Third place

  • Lock 5.26.7 bt Hamilton 5.28.2

Final

  • Cartwright 5:16.3 bt Mockridge 5:27.0

10 mile scratch race

Pos Athlete Time
1 Australia Bill Heseltine 23:23.4
2 New Zealand Les Lock
3 Australia Ken Caves
Australia Barry Coombs
Canada Erick Oland
Canada John Millman
Canada Lorne Atkinson
England Tommy Godwin
England Cyril Cartwright
England Alan Geldard
New Zealand Alan C. Dean
New Zealand Frank Tredrea
Scotland Jimmy Hamilton
Wales Malcolm Campbell
Southern Rhodesia D. K. Bennett
Southern Rhodesia E. Evans
Southern Rhodesia E. P. Branfield

100km Road Race

The 100km road race travelling west along Tāmaki Drive

Only 7 of the 13 starters finished.[8][9]

Pos Athlete Time
1 Australia Hector Sutherland 3'13:06.4
2 New Zealand Nick Carter 3'13:06.5
3 Australia Jack Hartley Fowler 3'13:06.6
4 Australia Peter Pryor 3'13:06.7
5 Wales Malcolm Campbell 3'13:06.8
6 England Alf Newman 3'13:07.2
7 New Zealand James Downie no time
England Eric Holroyd dnf
Canada Lorne Atkinson dnf
Canada William Hamilton dnf
Southern Rhodesia E. P. Branfield dnf
Scotland Jimmy Hamilton dnf
New Zealand Ted Lambert dnf

References

  1. ^ "The Fourth British Empire Games". Ireland's Saturday Night. 9 July 1949. Retrieved 12 September 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  2. ^ "Empire Games Results". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 6 February 1950. Retrieved 12 September 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. ^ "Empire Games road race". TEARA. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
  4. ^ "Medal Standings 1950". Commonwealth Games Federation. Archived from the original on 29 October 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
  5. ^ "Commonwealth Games Medallists - Cycling". GBR Athletics. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
  6. ^ "Cycling". Hull Daily Mail. 7 February 1950. Retrieved 12 September 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ "Empire Games results". Manchester Evening News. 11 February 1950. Retrieved 12 September 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ "Results". Shields Daily News. 6 February 1950. Retrieved 12 September 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ^ "Cycling farce". Daily Herald. 7 February 1950. p. 8. Retrieved 31 October 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.

See also