Victoria 1994
The end of apartheid in the early part of the decade heralded the return of South Africa to the Commonwealth Games and ensured that the era of threatened boycotts was over. Both the Opening and Closing Ceremonies were held at Victoria’s Centennial Stadium, which had undergone a superb refit in honour of the Games.
Nigeria marked its arrival as a Commonwealth sporting force by picking up more gold medals than both New Zealand and India. Hong Kong said farewell to the Games with the territory becoming a special administrative region of the People’s Republic of China in 1997.
Scotland won 20 medals including six gold. Amongst the highlights were Yvonne Murray winning gold in the 10,000 metres; Boxing gold for Paul Shepherd in the 51kg weight category; three Lawn Bowls gold medals in the Women’s Pairs, Men’s Singles and Men’s Visually Impaired and gold for shooter Shirley McIntosh in the Smallbore 50m Rifle Prone.
Did you know?
Shooter Alister Allan became Scotland’s most medalled Commonwealth Games athlete as he won silver and bronze at Victoria 1994 to bring his total tally to an impressive 10, including three gold, across five Games.
Yvonne Murray’s victory in the 10,000m meant Scotland had won this event at every Games since its inception in 1986.
Joanne Walker won Scotland’s first ever Gymnastics medal with a bronze in the Rhythmic – Hoop event.
Victoria 1994 Medals
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Victoria 1994 Medal Facts
No Medallists: 25 team members won a total of 20 medals across seven sports. There were seven gold medallists – Yvonne Murray, Paul Sheppard, Lawson Brand, Richard Corsie, Sarah Gourlay, Frances Whyte and Shirley McIntosh.
Top Male: Following bronze in the Men’s Singles at the previous two Games, lawn bowler Richard Corsie struck gold in Victoria, beating 1992 World Champion Tony Allcock in the final.
Top Female: Shooter Shirley McIntosh became the first Scottish woman ever to win gold in a Prone event with victory in the Women’s 50m Prone Individual, also taking silver with Patricia Littlechild in the Pairs event.
Top Sport: Lawn Bowls was Scotland’s top sport with three gold and one bronze medal. Shooting contributed the most medals with seven – 1 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze.
Repeat Medallists: 8 athletes were repeat medallists – Yvonne Murray, Geoff Parsons, Richard Corsie, Alister Allan, William Murray, Robert Law, Ian Marsden and Graeme English.
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