The Commonwealth Games in Australia

Boxer Les Harley won bronze in the heavyweight division and received this commemorative medal for his participation in the Games.

The 1962 Games were seen as an opportunity to showcase the best of Western Australia. Thousands of people volunteered to ensure the Games were a success and the community donated the more than £400,000 required to stage the event.

The Games were opened by the Duke of Edinburgh on the hottest Perth day in 49 years, with the temperature reaching 40°C (103.9°F). Despite the conditions, the opening ceremony was attended by 50,000 people, equivalent to approximately ten per cent of the population of Perth at the time.

The Australian team excelled once again on their home turf, winning 38 gold, 36 silver and 31 bronze.

The competitors, including Australian swimmer Les Phillips, were presented with these commemorative bronze medals in recognition of competing at the Games.

Kevin Berry was a triple-Gold medallist swimmer at the Games, winning the medal shown here in the 110yd butterfly final, where he broke his own World Record. He took a second Gold in the 220yd final and won his third Gold medal in the 4x110yd medley relay.

Betty Cuthbert, known as Australia’s “Golden Girl” came out of retirement to compete at the 1962 Games. She had left the sport after sustaining an injury at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome which impacted her performance, and she was eliminated in the heats of the 100m in that competition.

Cuthbert’s 1962 return to the track resulted in a dramatic team triumph. It came in the 4 x 110yd women’s final, with teammates Joyce Bennett, Glenys Beasley, and Brenda Cox.

Cuthbert’s run in the final leg to pass England’s Betty Moore just before the finish line secured gold for the team.

An enduring image from the opening ceremony was the 13-metre-tall Games mascot, Matilda the Kangaroo, winking at the crowd as it completed a circuit of the stadium.

Australia narrowly topped the medal tally with 39 gold to England's 38. The Games made household names of athletes like Debbie Flintoff-King who won gold in the 400m hurdles and silver in the 4 x 400m relay, and would go on to win the 400m hurdles final at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul.

In her final major athletics appearance, Raelene Boyle took gold in the 400-metre sprint final and silver in the 4 × 400-metre relay.

The spirit and crowd enthusiasm of the Games were on display on the second last day of competition when Robert de Castella won the marathon, after a fierce contest against Tanzanian Juma Ikangaa.

Thousands lined the race route, spilling onto the road in the closing stages, enthusiastically willing "Deeks" to victory.

Melbourne hosted 5766 athletes and team officials from the 71 participating countries in the biggest sporting event held in the city.

Athletes competed in 245 events across 17 different team and individual sports. Australia topped the medal tally with 84 gold, 69 silver and 69 bronze.

This replica Queen’s Relay Baton was presented to Victorian Minister for the Commonwealth Games, Justin Madden, in recognition of his support for the event.

For the first time since the tradition began at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games the Queen's Baton visited every country and territory taking part in the event, a journey of over 180,000kms.

The baton was carried on its final leg by then Governor of Victoria and former Olympian, John Landy, who presented it to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II during the opening ceremony at the MCG.

Australia won 16 gold medals in the athletics, including in the Women's Marathon where Kerryn McCann successfully defended the title she won in Manchester in 2002. The race was hard fought between her and Kenyan, Hellen Cherono Koskei, with the leader changing six times in the final 2km. Cherono held a slight lead as they entered the MCG for the final lap. McCann later said she was flagging as they approached the finish, but as the two competitors ran onto the athletics track installed at the MCG specifically for the Games, the surge of noise from the 76,000-strong crowd lifted her to victory.

McCann later told reporters, "That wasn't me running the last 300. If the people weren't out there, I wouldn't have won a gold medal today."

McCann’s victory was one of the enduring moments from the Games, made all the more important to the Australian public when she sadly passed away from cancer only 18 months after the win.

In 2015, the Sport Australia Hall of Fame declared her stirring victory at MCG one of its Great Sporting Moments.

Each instance of Australia hosting the Commonwealth Games has been a celebration of community and culture as much as a contest of sport. Hosting the Games has transformed cities, leaving powerful memories for the thousands of people who attended as spectators, volunteers, competitors and officials.