Commonwealth Games Roundup : Daley Thompson’s Protest Follows Boycotts

EDINBURGH, Scotland — Upsets, controversies and more records marked the fourth day of the boycott-plagued Commonwealth Games Sunday, attended by Queen Elizabeth II, her husband Prince Philip and their youngest son, Prince Edward.

On the track, in the pool and elsewhere, Canada, Australia and England continued their battle for the medals, while the Bermuda team, which pulled out of the games Saturday, finally left for home still unhappy at joining the boycott by 31 other teams.

England overtook Australia in the gold medal count and drew even in the overall standings.

The English had 17 golds at the end of the day, with Australia and Canada both at 15. England and Australia each had 42 overall medals, 10 ahead of Canada.

English decathlon star Daley Thompson caused a major problem for the organizers when he violated international rules by scratching from his vest the name of the games’ official sponsor during the first five events of the decathlon.

Thompson, world record-holder and two-time Olympic champion, apparently was protesting against alcohol.

“We are not prepared to see our name erased in this manner,” said a statement signed by Chris Davidson, director of public affairs for the international Guinness brewing company, which had come up with $3 million for the games.

Davidson later said the money had already been pledged and that the company would not demand compensation if Thompson erased the name.

But he added: “If you have a sponsorship agreement that can be destroyed in the middle of a tournament, obviously it’s not in our interests for this to happen.”

With Thompson due to appear back on the track on Monday, English team officials acted quickly, issuing a carefully-worded statement saying the decathlon competitor had agreed to wear his vest and number in the correct way.

Another controversy involved the Canadian team, which picked up four of the nine gold medals at stake--Ben Johnson in the 100-meter dash, Graeme Fell in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Mark McKoy in the 110-meter hurdles and Lynn Williams, who led a Canadian 1-2 sweep in the women’s 3,000 meters.

Sprint coach Charlie Francis thought his team should have had a fifth gold in the women’s 100 meters after Canadian defending champion Angella Issajenko, formerly Angella Taylor, finished third behind England’s Heather Oakes and Paula Dunn. Francis claimed the two English athletes had been allowed to get off to “rolling” starts.