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Home , Alpine Canada, Alpine skiing, Anne Heggtveit, Beckie Scott, Cindy Klassen, Clara Hughes

& The Olympic „Quick Reference‟

Introduction

On the 12th of February 2010 the host city of will welcome the world and its own Canadian athletes to the XXI Olympic Winter Games. The celebration will mark the latest in what has been a long and rich history of active involvement by Canada in the Winter Games.

The Canadian Olympic Committee has sent athletes to every edition of the Olympic Winter Games and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) member to Canada, James Merrick, was an impassioned supporter of the idea to establish a separate set of Winter Games.

When the “ Week”, later to be retroactively recognized by the IOC as the I Olympic Winter Games, took place in Chamonix, France from the 25th of January to the 5th of February in 1924 it was a small group of that were there to begin making history.

The Sports and Disciplines Canadians Play At

At the I Olympic Winter Games Canadian men participated in three of the nine sports and disciplines on the programme - skating, hockey and . The Canadian „team‟ consisted of one athlete – Charles Gorman. The entire women‟s team was equally sparse, consisting of just Cecil Eustace. Eustace competed in the pairs (with Melville Rogers) and women‟s individual figure skating events.

Both the Olympic programme and Canada‟s team have greatly expanded over the twenty editions of the Winter Games that have been celebrated to date. At the XX Olympic Winter Games in in 2006, Canadian athletes competed in all 15 men‟s sports and disciplines and all 13 women‟s.

Whether male, female or both, there have been Canadian athletes competing in figure skating, speed skating, Alpine , , , short track speed skating and from the time each were introduced into the programme through to 2006. It is certain sports or disciplines, however, which are thought of as being an integral to Canada‟s Olympic Winter history.

Ice Hockey

Although it was not until 1994 that was officially recognized as Canada‟s winter sport that fact has not stopped it from being one of the sports that Canadians have most often (but not always) competed in at the Olympic Winter Games. Who‟s who – Due to the fact that the first Canadian teams were usually largely made up of players from one club they are often also referred to by their club name – the Granites, the University of Toronto Grads, the – rather than as „Team Canada‟. A force to be reckoned with – The 1928 Canadian men‟s ice hockey team was recognized as being so superior to the other teams in the tournament that officials gave them a bye straight to the medal round of the tournament. The 1924 team was equally imposing, winning the tournament by scoring 122 goals, with only three scored against them. Early results - between 1924 and 1956 the men‟s ice hockey teams brought home 5 golds, 1 silver and 1 bronze medal. Since the introduction of Olympic women‟s ice hockey in 1998 in , Canadian women have also proven themselves a force to be reckoned with. In just three editions of the Winter Games the women‟s teams have brought home 1 silver and 2 gold medals.

© 2009 – INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE Olympic Studies Centre Quai d‟Ouchy 1, 1001 Lausanne, , [email protected] / Fax +41 21 621 6718 / www.olympic.org Canada & The Olympic Winter Games „Quick Reference‟

Figure Skating

The roots of skating in Canada extend back into the 1800s so it is no surprise that figure skating has an ardent fan base in Canada and that its athletes have competed in every edition of the Games. Medal in all events – in twenty editions of the Winter Games Canada‟s figure skaters have won at least one medal in each event category of figure skating, amassing an overall total of 3 golds, 7 silvers and 10 bronze medals. The list of famous Canadians figure skaters is a long one that includes , , and , Debbie Wilkes and to name but a few. It even includes a future Canadian Minister of State for Fitness and Amateur Sport – . 1972 – XI Olympic Winter Games – Women‟s individual figure skater and British Columbian, , was the sole Canadian in Sapporo to win a medal, a silver.

Speed Skating

In addition to being one of the disciplines Canada has always competed at the Winter Games, speed skating has often been in the sporting spotlight during the Olympic celebrations due to the „By The Numbers‟ and „Notable Firsts‟ achieved by some of its athletes. 1932 Lake Placid - III Olympic Winter Games – Alexander Hurd, Frank Stack and William Logan‟s used their familiarity with the „pack start‟ race format and strong skating skills to good advantage consistently finishing no lower than eight place and capturing 1 silver and 4 bronze medals between them. Thanks to the in , Canada has the unique distinction of being the first place where Olympic speed skating was contested indoors. Famous for its fast ice conditions, the legacy of the Oval has endured in the years since the Games in Calgary in 1988. Today, it is both a training centre for Canadian and international athletes as well as a site of many speed skating competitions. Recent results – between 1994 and 2006 Canada‟s speed skaters have again come to the forefront, bringing home 4 golds, 7 silvers and 7 bronze Olympic medals.

Alpine Skiing

Over the years Canada has produced a number of notable Alpine skiers, but at the Winter Games it is the women who have had amazing stories to tell and shined the brightest, capturing a total of 4 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze medals in comparison to the men‟s total of 2 bronze medals When events were first added to the programme at the 1936 Winter Games it was guts and determination rather than medals that Canada‟s Diana Gordon came to be remembered for. Refusing to let injury stop her, Gordon competed with her arm in a cast and using only one pole. Inspiring Roommates – In 1956 became the first Canadian to win an Olympic Alpine skiing medal. Her roommate was . In 1960, Heggtveit won gold in the women‟s slalom. Ironically, her roommate was Nancy Greene, a future gold and silver medallist in 1968.

Canada at the Olympic Winter Games 2 Olympic Studies Centre / November 2009 Canada & The Olympic Winter Games „Quick Reference‟

Short Track Speed Skating

Despite being one of the most recent additions to the Olympic Winter programme Canadian skaters have already proven themselves to be amongst the top performers in a discipline where anything can happen and even the most gifted athlete can catch an edge, crash or fail to finish. Between 1992 and 2006 Canada‟s men and women short track speed skaters have amassed an impressive total of 5 golds, 8 silvers and 7 bronze medals. In the pages of Canadian Olympic history it is a total that equals the number of medals won by Canadian figure skaters over twenty editions of the Winter Games and it is an overall total that is second only to Canadian speed skaters‟ tally of 28 medals, also amassed over twenty years.

Notable Firsts

MEN Sport / Discipline Winter Games Athlete(s) Event Medal

Alpine Skiing 1980 Lake Downhill Placid 1964 Canada 1 Four-Man

(Douglas Anakin, John Emery, Victor Emery, Peter Kirby) 1998 Nagano , , Curling

George Karrys, Collin Mitchell, Figure Skating 1932 Lake Individual

Placid Freestyle Skiing 1994 Jean-Luc Brassard Moguls

Lillehammer

Ice Hockey 1924 Canada Ice Hockey Chamonix (Jack Cameron, Ernest Collett, Albert McCaffrey, Harold McMunn, Duncan Munro, W. Beattie Ramsay, Cyril Slater, Reginald Smith, Harry Watson) Short Track 1992 Albertville Frédérique Blackburn 1000m

Speed Skating 2006 Turin Individual

Jeff Pain Snowboard 1998 Nagano Ross Rebagliati

Speed Skating 1932 Lake Alexander Hurd 500m

Placid

Canada at the Olympic Winter Games 3 Olympic Studies Centre / November 2009 Canada & The Olympic Winter Games „Quick Reference‟

WOMEN Sport / Discipline Winter Games Athlete(s) Event Medal

Alpine Skiing 1956 Cortina Lucile Wheeler Downhill d‟Ampezzo 1992 Albertville Myriam Bédard 15km

Cross Country 2002 Beckie Scott 5km Pursuit

Skiing

Curling 1998 Nagano Janice Betker, Marcia Curling Gudereit, Atina Ford, Joan Elizabeth McCusker, Sandra Schmirler

Figure Skating 1948 St. Moritz Individual Freestyle Skiing 2002 Veronica Brenner Aerials

Salt Lake City Deidra Dionne Ice Hockey 1998 Nagano Canada Ice Hockey

(, Therese Brisson, , Judy Diduck, Nancy Drolet, , , Geraldine Heaney, , Becky Kellar, Kathy McCormack, Karen Nystrom, Lesley Reddon, Manon Rhéaume, Laura Schuler, Fiona Smith, France St-Louis, , Hayley Wickeheiser, ) Short Track 1992 Albertville Angela Cutrone, Sylvie 3000m Relay

Speed Skating Daigle, Nathalie Lambert, Annie Perreault Skeleton 2006 Turin Mellisa Hollingsworth Individual

Snowboard 2006 Turin Dominique Maltais Snowboard

Cross

Speed Skating 1976 Innsbruck Catherine Priestner 500m

Canada at the Olympic Winter Games 4 Olympic Studies Centre / November 2009 Canada & The Olympic Winter Games „Quick Reference‟

MIXED Sport / Discipline Winter Games Athlete(s) Event Medal Figure Skating 1948 St. Moritz Wallace Diestelmeyer, Pairs

Suzanne Morrow

BUT DID YOU ALSO KNOW THAT…

 Men‟s Ice Hockey - the 1924 win by the Canadian team was a first in Olympic Winter Games history. It was not the first time that a Canadian ice hockey team had been crowned as Olympic champions. In 1920, though, when ice hockey was included on the programme for Antwerp, it was a Summer Games medal that the Canadians won.  The gift of a yellow convertible following her 1947 World Championship title almost prevented Barbara Ann Scott (figure skating) from being eligible to compete in the 1948 Olympic Winter Games. Scott returned the gift, kept her amateur status, and went on to become the first Canadian female to win an Olympic figure skating medal, a gold. After turning professional later in 1948, the Mayor of Ottawa offered her the gift of a car after all.  Colourful Nicknames – even before being the first to win an Olympic medal in their sport or discipline the “Bachelors From Montreal” - Douglas Anakin, John Emery, Victor Emery, Peter Kirby - of the gold medal winning 1964 Canadian 4-man bobsleigh team, bronze medallist and one of the youngest of ‟s „Crazy Canuks‟ – Steve Podborski - and the “Canadian Air Force” freestyle skiing sensation Jean-Luc Brassard and Sandra “Schmirler the Curler” were sure to be remembered thanks to the colourful nicknames the media used for them.  The gold medal win of the 1964 Canadian four-man bobsleigh teams was all the more impressive given the fact that at the time Canada did not even have a bobsleigh run for the team to practice on.  Competing in his second edition of the Olympic Winter Games, Duff Gibson (skeleton) made double history in Turin in 2006. There he become the first Canadian athlete to win Olympic gold in skeleton and also earned the distinction of becoming the oldest athlete in Winter Games history to win a gold medal in an individual event at the age of 39 years and 190 days.

By The Numbers

CANADIAN ATHLETES WITH THE MOST OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES MEDALS

MEN

Athlete Sport / Discipline Short Track Speed Skating 3 2 Éric Bédard Short Track Speed Skating 2 1 1 Gaétan Boucher Speed Skating 2 1 1 Jonathan Guilmette Short Track Speed Skating 1 2 François-Louis Short Track Speed Skating 1 2 Tremblay Short Track Speed Skating 1 1 1

Canada at the Olympic Winter Games 5 Olympic Studies Centre / November 2009 Canada & The Olympic Winter Games „Quick Reference‟

WOMEN

Athlete Sport / Discipline Speed Skating 1 2 3 Myriam Bédard Biathlon 2 1 Isabelle Charest Short Track Speed Skating 1 2 Speed Skating 1 1 1 Nathalie Lambert Short Track Speed Skating 1 2 Catriona Le May Speed Skating 2 1 Doan Annie Perreault Short Track Speed Skating 2 1 Tania Vicent Short Track Speed Skating 1 2 Team Members Ice Hockey 1998, 2002 & 2006 – Jennifer Botterill, Cassie Campbell, Danielle Goyette, 2 1 Jayna Hefford, Becky Kellar, Vicky Sunohara,

BUT DID YOU ALSO KNOW THAT…

 In addition to winning three Winter Games medals Clara Hughes (speed skating) is one of the few athletes to have also won medals at the Summer Games – two bronze in the women‟s cycling individual road race and individual time trial in in 1996.  In 1984 Gaétan Boucher (speed skating) became a national hero when he captured three medals at a single edition of the Games – a bronze in the 500m and gold in the 1000m and the 1500m. Along with his silver from 1980 Lake Placid, Boucher‟s overall tally of four medals would, until 2002, be the most medals to be won by a Canadian winter Olympian.  Then along came Marc Gagnon (short track speed skating) eighteen years later. Competing in his third Olympic Winter Games at Salt Lake City in 2002, Gagnon topped Boucher‟s record. He did this by adding gold in the men‟s 500m and men‟s 5,000m team relay events and a bronze in the 1,500m to the 1 bronze and 1 gold medal he had previously earned in 1994 in Lillehammer and 1998 in Nagano.  And then… along came Cindy Klassen (speed skating) in 2006. Dubbed the „Queen of the Games‟ by the Turin Organizing Committee, Klassen quite literally stole the show by skating her way to five medals. The honours did not end there though - Klassen‟s five medals plus her 3,000m bronze from Salt Lake City in 2002 made her the first Canadian Winter athlete to win a career total of six Olympic medals.  In an unusual sporting double, Hayley Wickenheiser competed in the 1998, 2002 and 2006 Olympic Winter Games as a member of the medal winning Canadian women‟s ice hockey teams as well as in the 2000 Games of the Olympiad as a member of the Canadian women‟s team.

Canada at the Olympic Winter Games 6 Olympic Studies Centre / November 2009 Canada & The Olympic Winter Games „Quick Reference‟

Hosting the Olympic Winter Games

2010 will be the second time that a Canadian city has hosted the Olympic Winter Games but Canada‟s desire to host the Olympic Winter Games goes back, in fact, to 1932 and an invitation to stage the III Olympic Winter Games in Montreal.

In the years that have followed, there have been nine more occasions on which a Canadian city has made an official bid to the International Olympic Committee – 1956 Montreal, 1964 Calgary, 1968 Calgary, 1972 Banff, 1976 Vancouver, 1980 Vancouver-Garibaldi, 1988 Calgary, 2002 City, and 2010 Vancouver.

Of all of these bids it was the one made by Calgary for 1988 that became the first to be chosen by the IOC. On 30 September 1981 Canadian Olympic winter history was made when the city of Calgary was elected as the host of the XV Olympic Winter Games.

Canadian Highlights

For the first time in Olympic history the Winter Games were stretched over 16 days and athletes from a then record setting total of 57 nations took part in the Games. Opening ceremony essentials – carried the flag for Canada and former Canadian winter sports stars carried the Olympic flag and the Olympic flame on its final steps. It was a 12- year old school-girl, Robyn Perry, who lit the cauldron though. Canadian athletes participated in all 10 of the sports and disciplines on the programme – Alpine skiing, biathlon, bobsleigh, cross-country skiing, figures skating, ice hockey, luge, , and speed skating. On the ski slopes Karen Percy was literally right at home. The Banff resident become Canada‟s only double medallist at the Games, capturing bronze in both the women‟s Super-G and downhill Alpine skiing events. Destined to forever be remembered by the media dubbed title of „The Battle of the Brians‟, the men‟s individual figure skating competition was precisely that. One small error in a triple jump was all that it took for Canada‟s Brian Orser to have to settle for silver. 13 - 28 February 1988 Rob McCall and Tracy Wilson became the first Canadians to win a medal in ice dancing when they captured a bronze with an engaging performance. In the women‟s individual figure skating free programme surprised everyone with the skate of a lifetime that earned her a silver medal and the hearts of Canadians and skating fans alike.

Sources of Additional Information

 Dave Best, Canada Our Century in Sport 1900 - 2000, Markham: Fitzhenry and Whiteside, 2002.  Jack Batten (ed.), Canada at the Olympics: The first hundred years, Toronto: INFACT, 1996.  Past Olympic Winter Games on the Canadian Olympic Committee website.

*Photo Credits: Duff Gibson – Kishimoto; 1998 Canadian Women‟s Curling Team – Getty Images/Shaun Botteril; 2002 Canadian Women‟s Ice Hockey team - Getty Images/Al Bello;Cindy Klassen – Getty Images/Elsa; Clara Hughes – Getty Images/Brian Bahr; all other images © IOC

Canada at the Olympic Winter Games 7 Olympic Studies Centre / November 2009