With the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games in full swing, you might be wondering where UBC fits into the picture. Well, you’ll be proud to see that the university has a long history of participation — and not only participation, but hardware too.
Since the 1928 Amsterdam Games — where Harry Warren competed in track and field — UBC athletes have participated in the Olympics. UBC wouldn’t win its first Olympic medal until the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles though, when Ned Pratt, a rower from UBC, won bronze in the double sculls.
In Melbourne at the 1956 Summer Olympics, UBC’s rowing team took home Canada’s first-ever gold medal. Rowing has the highest UBC representation, as well as the most medals, including those won by UBC’s most decorated Olympian: Kathleen Heddle — she’s won three gold medals and one bronze.
Footprints of UBC figures
Though UBC’s Olympic history begins with the Summer Games, the university has made an indelible mark on the Winter Olympic history as well.
UBC Athletics has the full run down for those interested, but here is a quick snapshot of the UBC essentials:
Canada’s first men’s national Olympic hockey team was created on UBC ice, and consisted mainly of players attending the university. Father David Bauer was at the helm when that team came to fruition, and many of those athletes went on to successful sports careers. Bauer coached the team for the 1968 and 1980 Olympic Games, winning the bronze medal in 1968.
Father Bauer’s idea of a national team lasted until the NHL began providing Olympic team players in 1998. His coaching staff also included UBC Hall of Famer Bob Hindmarch, who followed Bauer as UBC’s hockey coach and later became UBC’s Director of Athletics.
UBC’s 1950s and ’60s skiing coach Al Fisher also played a key role in Olympic history, working alongside Hindmarch to promote Whistler’s bid for the 1976 Winter Olympics. Their efforts led to important infrastructure development in the Whistler region, allowing the village to grow into the 2010 Olympic venue and ski resort it is today.
Facilities that have played their part
It seems fitting then that Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre and its arena was built around the historic Father Bauer Arena, which opened in 1963 at UBC for the athletes to practice prior to their Olympic debut. In more recent history, the Thunderbird Arena became the host site for men’s and women’s hockey and sledge hockey when the 2010 Winter Games came to Vancouver.
Just this past month, UBC hosted the National Skating Championships in our very own Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre, where athletes competed for spots on the 2018 Canadian Olympic skating team. The revealed roster includes now-veterans Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, who made history last week as Canada’s first duo to be flag-bearers.
Current UBC international relations student, Kevin Reynolds, unfortunately did not qualify for Canada’s 2018 Olympic figure skating team at that event, but he is among the few UBC students to have brought home a medal from the Winter Olympics — winning silver for the team figure skating event in Sochi in 2014.
Our more recent Olympic history
Also on that winning team were Virtue and Moir, who became the first ice dancers to win gold on their Olympic debut since the inaugural event in 1976, and the first to win on home ice in Vancouver in 2010. At those 2010 Winter Olympics, Ashleigh McIvor, former member of UBC’s alpine ski team, took home gold in ski-cross.
Alexa Loo is among those Thunderbird athletes who participated in the Olympics during or after their time at UBC as well, representing Canada as a snowboarder in the parallel giant slalom at Vancouver’s 2010 Games, and the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. Jeff Pain, who also competed for UBC (as a track athlete), won silver for skeleton in the 2006 event.
This year, Canada’s national men’s hockey team will include Jeff Thorburn as one of their athletic therapists, who has been the head athletic therapist for the UBC Okanagan Heat since 2013.
So, we evidently have a long Olympic history, both in terms of athletes and athletic staff, but even right here on campus with our facilities. This is just a short list of all those who have a Thunderbird past and have competed in the Games — and there are sure to be more as the years go on.
The 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, began on February 9 and will continue until February 25.
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