1974 British Commonwealth Games

The event was the first large international athletic event after the murder of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. The Athletes Village, the Student accommodation of the University of Canterbury, was temporarily fenced in and guarded for the duration of the games. Only official vehicles and persons were allowed into sensitive areas around the venues.

The logo was the second (after Edinburgh) to be protected and trademarked,[1] and set a design benchmark which was echoed in the logos of the next five games. The logo was designed by Wellington designer Colin Simons as the result of a design competition, and posters were designed by Bret de Thier.[2]

In recent years the logo has been regarded as one of New Zealand's iconic symbols, being reproduced on clothing and elsewhere.[3][4]

Elizabeth II at a medal ceremony

Christchurch was (and still is) the smallest city to host the modern televised Commonwealth Games. This was the first games that tried using the "Olympic" look with a standard colour scheme for facilities, passes, flags, stationery, and above all uniforms (which wearers only borrowed, but could buy outright as a memento thus helping keep costs down).

Its striking NZ74 design logo is now a well used (sometimes illegally) symbol of New Zealand as a nation and Christchurch as a city. It is still copyright owned by Christchurch City Council but is allowed for free use unless for commercial gain. Badges, lapels, stationery and postcards are still in re-manufactured circulation.

This was also the first time that a city had asked the Games Federation to allow commercial advertising. This was voted down as the Federation feared that advertising by big corporations would remove focus away from the amateur ethos of the Games. As no commercial hoardings were allowed, Christchurch got around this with the use of "sponsorship", one example being General Motors providing a lease fleet of Holden HQ Kingswood sedans that would be sold off after the games. The cars are now sought after by private and museum collectors and have depreciated little in value. Air New Zealand allowed large NZ74 symbols to be placed on the fuselage sides of the airline's brand new McDonnell Douglas DC-10s, giving free advertising around the world. This in itself set a trend since with airlines vying to be "official airline" of a particular event.

Although the Games themselves were a success, making a then sizable profit of $500,000, the "sponsorship" was nowhere near enough. The City of Christchurch was left with a financial facilities management debt (QEII Park) of what would be in today's (2016) amount of NZ$120 million. This deterred the city from hosting major events until 1990 when the government stepped in with lotteries funding to clear the remaining debt. By then, Auckland's 1990 games had been fully commercialized.

Queen Elizabeth II Park The most visible facility left behind by the 1974 Commonwealth Games was the purpose-built stadium and swimming complex. For a few years after, the stadium was a popular destination for sports and leisure patrons who were well indulged in first class facilities. However the costs of maintaining the complex grew over time and soon other additions included hydro-slides and fun park outside on the large grassed area that was once the race course. Christchurch City Council, the owner of the complex continued to develop the ground and for five years from 1990, allowed the Canterbury Greyhound Club to run a track on the inner oval. The main swimming pool was adapted so it could be decked over for Basketball and Netball. Football and Rugby League returned to the stadium in 1995 on a more permanent basis and a minor refurbishment of the track saw athletics events become a main summer event again. Early plans for a hosting of the 2022 Commonwealth Games were in hand when the September 2010 earthquake of around 7.1 hit near Christchurch and damaged the facility. Assessors immediately reported that the damage was repairable and could be covered by insurance. The swimming pools were drained to await repair when the more devastating 22 February 2011 earthquake struck Christchurch, damaging the entire facility, already weakened, beyond economic repair. After laying abandoned for three years, the stadium was demolished and by 2016 the ground stabilized in preparation of more economical facilities and a connecting high school.

Robin Tait receives his gold medal from Anne, Princess Royal

Future 2026/2030 Bids proposals As a rebuilding legacy, there have been calls for Christchurch to bid for the new style Commonwealth Games that allow a core central city to host a more nationwide event. This has been seen as a more economical format for smaller cities, and countries to host what had become an expensive event for a singular city to host.

While the opening ceremony was a regimented and very formal affair, the late afternoon closing ceremony was anything but. This set a precedent for other closing ceremonies since then. With the formalities out of the way, the handing over of the flag to representatives of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, the athletes broke ranks and ran amok, much to the delight of the packed stadium and the Queen herself. A flypast of the then Red Checkers RNZAF display team brought the ceremony to a close as the Queen and Prince Philip did a lap of honour around the stadium and departed.

The youngest competitor at the games was New Zealander Rebecca Perrott, 121⁄2; swimming for Fiji at the games, as her father was Registrar at the University of the South Pacific.[7]

Men's events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
100 m freestyle	Michael Wenden (AUS)	52.73	Bruce Robertson (CAN)	53.78	Brian Phillips (CAN)	54.11
200 m freestyle	Steve Badger (AUS)	1:56.72	Bruce Robertson (CAN)	1:57.21	Michael Wenden (AUS)	1:57.83
400 m freestyle	John Kulasalu (AUS)	4:01.44	Brad Cooper (AUS)	4:02.12	Steve Badger (AUS)	4:04.07
1500 m freestyle	Steve Holland (AUS)	15:34.73	Mark Treffers (NZL)	15:59.82	Steve Badger (AUS)	16:22.23
100 m backstroke	Mark Tonelli (AUS)	59.65	Steve Pickell (CAN)	59.88	Brad Cooper (AUS)	1:00.17
200 m backstroke	Brad Cooper (AUS)	2:06.31	Mark Tonelli (AUS)	2:09.47	Robert Williams (AUS)	2:09.83
100 m breaststroke	David Leigh (ENG)	1:06.52	David Wilkie (SCO)	1:07.37	Paul Naisby (ENG)	1:08.52
200 m breaststroke	David Wilkie (SCO)	2:24.42	David Leigh (ENG)	2:24.75	Paul Naisby (ENG)	2:27.36
100 m butterfly	Neil Rogers (AUS)	56.58	Byron MacDonald (CAN)	56.83	Bruce Robertson (CAN)	56.84
200 m butterfly	Brian Brinkley (ENG)	2:04.51	Ross Seymour (AUS)	2:06.64	John Coutts (NZL)	2:07.03
200 m individual medley	David Wilkie (SCO)	2:10.11	Brian Brinkley (ENG)	2:12.73	Gary MacDonald (CAN)	2:12.98
400 m individual medley	Mark Treffers (NZL)	4:35.90	Brian Brinkley (ENG)	4:41.29	Raymond Terrell (ENG)	4:42.94
4×100 m freestyle relay	Canada (CAN) Brian Phillips Bruce Robertson Gary MacDonald Ian MacKenzie	3:33.79	Australia (AUS) Michael Wenden Neil Rogers Peter Coughlan Ross Patterson	3:34.26	England (ENG) Brian Brinkley Colin Cunningham Keith Walton Raymond Terrell	3:38.22
4×200 m freestyle relay	Australia (AUS) John Kulasalu Michael Wenden Robert Nay Steve Badger	7:50.13	England (ENG) Brian Brinkley Colin Cunningham Neil Dexter Raymond Terrell	7:52.90	Canada (CAN) Bruce Robertson Gary MacDonald Ian MacKenzie Jim Fowlie	7:53.38
4×100 m medley relay	Canada (CAN) Brian Phillips Bruce Robertson Steve Pickell William Mahony	3:52.93	Australia (AUS) Mark Tonelli Michael Wenden Neil Rogers Nigel Cluer	3:55.76	England (ENG) Brian Brinkley Colin Cunningham David Leigh Stephen Nash	4:00.48

Women's events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
100 m freestyle	Sonya Gray	59.13	Gail Amundrud	59.36	Judy Wright	59.46
200 m freestyle	Sonya Gray	2:04.27	Jenny Turrall	2:06.90	Gail Amundrud	2:07.03
400 m freestyle	Jenny Turrall	4:22.09	Wendy Quirk	4:22.96	Jaynie Parkhouse	4:23.09
800 m freestyle	Jaynie Parkhouse	8:58.49	Jenny Turrall	8:58.53	Rosemary Milgate	8:58.59
100 m backstroke	Wendy Cook	1:06.37	Donna-Marie Gurr	1:06.55	Linda Young	1:07.52
200 m backstroke	Wendy Cook	2:20.37	Sandra Yost	2:22.07	Donna-Marie Gurr	2:23.74
100 m breaststroke	Christine Gaskell	1:16.42	Marian Stuart	1:16.61	Sandra Dickie	1:17.17
200 m breaststroke	Pat Beavan	2:43.11	Beverley Whitfield	2:43.58	Allison Smith	2:45.08
100 m butterfly	Patti Stenhouse	1:05.38	Kim Wickham	1:05.96	Sandra Yost	1:06.04
200 m butterfly	Sandra Yost	2:20.57	Patti Stenhouse	2:20.66	Gail Neall	2:21.66
200 m individual medley	Leslie Cliff	2:24.13	Becky Smith	2:25.17	Susan Hunter	2:26.18
400 m individual medley	Leslie Cliff	5:01.35	Becky Smith	5:03.68	Susan Hunter	5:07.20
4 × 100 m freestyle relay	Anne Jardin Becky Smith Gail Amundrud Judy Wright	3:57.14	Debra Cain Jennifer Turrall Sonya Gray Suzy Anderson	4:02.37	Alyson Jones Avis Willington Lesley Allardice Susan Edmondson	4:05.59
4 × 100 m medley relay	Gail Amundrud Marian Stuart Patti Stenhouse Wendy Cook	4:24.77	Beverley Whitfield Debra Cain Linda Young Sonya Gray	4:30.55	Gillian Fordyce Kim Wickham Morag McGlashan Sandra Dickie	4:31.68