1986 Commonwealth Games Participation Medal in Edinburgh

1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, Participation Medal '1986 XIII. Commonwealth Games, Edinburgh, Scotland', 69 mm diameter. Only 27 teams participated in the Edinburgh Games. The majority of Commonwealth nations staged a boycott, meaning that the Games appeared largely to be a whites-only event. 32 of the eligible 59 countries or territories, largely African, Asian and Caribbean states, stayed away because of the Thatcher government's policy of keeping Britain's sporting links with apartheid South Africa in preference to participating in the general sporting boycott of that country. Consequently, Edinburgh 1986 witnessed the lowest turnout since Auckland 1950. Bermuda was a particularly late withdrawal, as its athletes had appeared in the opening ceremony and in the opening day of competition before the Bermuda Olympic Association decided to formally withdraw. Australia sent 235 competitors in 11 sports, winning 40 gold, 46 silver & 35 bronze medals; third in the medal rankings behind England and Canada. Australians won 13 of the possible 36 gold medals in the pool, Rob de Castella won the marathon and Gary Honey the long jump, while Debbie Flintoff won the 400m and Lisa Martin the marathon. Gael Martin won the shot put and the discus. Australians won all 5 track cycling events, 4 weight-lifting golds as well as others.