1970 Commonwealth Paraplegic Games


The Third Commonwealth Paraplegic Games was a multi-sport event that was held in Edinburgh, Scotland from 26 July to 1 August 1970. Dubbed the "little games", they followed the 1970 British Commonwealth Games which were held in Edinburgh from 16 to 25 July of that year.

Background and administration

The chairman of the Organising Committee was Lieutenant-Colonel John Fraser. It was also known as the "little games" and the "Wheelchair Games".

Ceremonies

The Games were opened by the British Prime Minister Edward Heath. The opening ceremony was at Meadowbank stadium and was attended by a crowd of 2,000 people. The teams were led in by the hosts of the previous games, Jamaica. On behalf of all the competitors, James Laird, the Scottish team captain, took an oath. A message of support from the Provosts of 28 towns and cities across Scotland was read out, having been relayed from John o' Groats by runners from the Scottish Youth Clubs Association.
The games were closed by James MacKay, Lord Provost of the Edinburgh Corporation.

Participating teams

197 athletes from fourteen Commonwealth countries took part. Countries at this games that had not previously participated were Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Malta and Uganda.
Sports included:
The following were the venues for the games:
VenueSport
Games Village Archery, Precision Javelin
Meadowbank Sports ComplexAll other sports including some archery
Royal Commonwealth PoolSwimming
Lochend Bowling GreenLawn Bowls
Redcraig Shooting RangeShooting

Logistics

An athletes village was located at Turnhouse, with accommodation provided free of charge to the athletes by the Ministry of Defence. The Edinburgh Corporation had supplied fourteen adapted buses, which volunteer drivers used to transport the athletes between venues during the games. Athletics events were held at Meadowbank stadium. Shooting events were held at Redcraigs shooting range in West Lothian. There was some criticism of the lack of day-to-day television coverage from the BBC and ITV broadcasters.

Medal table

The final medal table is:
NationsGoldSilverBronzeTotal
483223103
29313999
27292177
25141049
1214430
56213
1269
1102
1001
Trinidad and Tobago1001
0224
0101
0000
0000
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