The year 1928 was the first year that women participated in the track and field events at the Olympic Games, and it was the first time that Canada sent a team including women. Incredibly, Amsterdam stands out as one of the best years ever for Candian women at the Olympics. The women who represented our country became household names in the 1920’s: Fanny "Bobbie" Rosenfeld, Ethel Smith and Ethel Catherwood.

1928

Bobbie Rosenfeld’s great performances started a little bit earlier than the Olympics. In 1924 Rosenfeld joined the Patterson Athletic Club and started competing in track and field events. That year, with Rosenfeld as their only entry, the club won the Ontario Ladies Track and Field points title. She won first place in the discuss, the 220 yard race, the 120 yard low hurdles and the long jump. She earned second in the 100 yard race and in the javelin. If people didn’t know it before, they knew then; she was an outstanding athlete. In 1928, Rosenfeld set three national records that held up until 1950: long jump (18 feet, 3 inches), the standing broad jump (8 feet, 1 inch) and the discuss. At the Amsterdam Olympic Games, the 100 metre final was exciting for Canada since three athletes were competing for gold: Rosenfeld, Ethel Smith and Myrtle Cook. Cook ended up being disqualified for two false starts but Rosenfeld and Smith won silver and bronze respectively. Later on, the 4x100 metre relay team of Rosenfeld, Smith, Cook and Jane Bell set a world record and earned gold.

Aside from her track and field accomplishments Rosenfeld was also an avid baseball and hockey player. In the 1931-1932 hockey season she was named outstanding player in Ontario women’s hockey. In 1949 Bobbie Rosenfeld was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame along with Myrtle Cook, Jane Bell, Ethel Smith and Ethel Catherwood. That same year she was also named Canadian woman athlete of the half century.

Also part of the 1928 Canadian explosion, was Ethel Smith. An excellent basketball and baseball player, Smith decided to try track and field and, simply by joining a local team began her illustrious career. After her debut with her local track and field team Smith joined Bobbie Rosenfeld and Jane Bell at the Canadian Ladies Athletic Club. They were all selected to the Olympic team. Wanting to make the most of their training opportunity, Smith and her teammates practiced their baton passing on the boat on their way to Amsterdam. With all the efforts they were putting in their training it’s no wonder they broke the record in the relay. Two thousand people were waiting at the train station when Smith and her teammates returned from their success at the Olympics.

Another Canadian to leave an impression during the 1928 Olympics was Ethel Catherwood, known as the Saskatoon Lilly. In 1926, Catherwood entered a competition in Saskatoon and with little training equaled the Canadian record for high jump (1.511metres). The next week she broke the world record for high jump. In 1928 she set a new world record (1.60m) that would not be matched by another Canadian until 1954. However, her greatest achievement was a gold medal at the Amsterdam Olympic Games. Soon after the Games she left the country for the United States and there is no record if she ever competed again.

1932

1968

In 1968 the eyes of all Canadians were on "Mighty Mouse" Elaine Tanner. At 15 years old Tanner held the world record in the 220 yard individual medley with a time of 2:33.3. That same year at the Commonwealth Games she returned with 4 gold medals, 3 silver, 2 world records and 2 games records. A year later, in 1967, the Pan Am Games were held in Winnipeg. In front of the home crowd Tanner broke the world record in the 110 yard backstroke and the 440 yard individual medley on top of winning 2 gold medals and 3 silver medals. By the time the Mexico Olympic Games arrived in 1968, Canada was expecting nothing less than gold from Tanner. On her way to the final in the backstroke, she broke the world record twice confirming to everyone how close Canada was to getting a much anticipated gold in swimming. In the final she broke the record again with a time of 1:06.7 but fell second to Kaye Hall of the United States who had an incredible race and finished with a time of 1:06.2. Hall had never beaten Tanner before. Tanner came home without a gold medal but with a silver and a bronze medal which she earned in the 4x100m relay. Canada would have to wait a while longer for their gold medal in swimming.

1976

To everyone amazement and bewilderment, Brill did not clear the 1.75m standard in the qualifying round, a height she had been doing easily since she was 16 years old. "She’s jumping with twenty-three million Canadians on her back" said an unnamed Canadian coach. Everyone thought that would be the end of Debbie Brill but she came back in full force; training, competing and winning. In 1977 she was named outstanding athlete of the year.

The commitment, dedication and perseverance of all these women has lead them to achieve their goals and to be great role models for the girls and women that have followed them. It has also engraved their names in Canadian sports’ history forever.  

1972

No stranger to awards, Cliff has won numerous medals for swimming, including an Olympic Silver medal in the 400 Individual Medley at the 1972 Olympic Games. In 1971, Cliff was awarded the Officer of the order of Canada for having won three Gold and two Silver medals at the Pan American Games. She was inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame in 1976, the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 1984, and the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 1997.

Cliff's commitment to excellence extends to her career in business as well. She co-founded Genus Capital Management in 1989. In 2000, she was recognized with a PEAK (Performance, Excellence, Achievement, Knowledge) Lifetime Achievement Award by the Association of Women in Finance.

1976

For the first time in Olympic History the Games were held in Canada. Canada became the first host country not to win a gold medal at their own Games, however, many female Canadians swimmers took home several bronze medals and one silver medal.

• Silver - Women's swimming, 400m individual relay
  Cheryl Gibson
• Bronze - Women's swimming, 100m backstroke
  Nancy Garapick
• Bronze - Women's swimming, 200m backstroke
  Nancy Garapick
• Bronze - Women's swimming, 400m freestyle
  Shannon Smith
• Bronze - Women's swimming, 400m individual medley
  Rebecca Smith
• Bronze - Women's swimming, 4x100 medley relay
  Wondy Cook-Hogg, Robin Corsiglia, Anne Jardin, Susan Smith-Sloan
• Bronze - Women's swimming, 4x100 freestyle medley relay
  Gail Amundrud, Barbara Clark, Anne Jardin, Rebecca Smith

1984

Canada won more medals than in any other Games before. Gold medals were won by pistol shooter Linda Thom, swimmer Anne Ottenbrite, diver Sylvie Bernier, rhythmic gymnast Lori Fung.

Linda Thom
She emerged from a seven-year retirement from sport pistol shooting in 1982 with the goal of making the Olympic team. Not only did this Ottawa resident succeed in making the team, she became the first woman in the world to win an Olympic gold medal in pistol shooting, the first Canadian woman to win a gold medal in a summer Olympics since 1928, and the first Canadian to win a gold medal in a summer Olympics since 1968.

Since her Olympic triumph Linda Thom has, among other honours, been named to the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame. She has also served as chair of the Ontario Sports Medicine Advisory Board and as vice-chair of the Canadian Advisory Council on Firearms.

Linda currently serves on the Ottawa advisory board of Rogers Communications, works as a residential real estate agent and acts in an honorary capacity for local and national charities. During the recent ice storm in Ontario and Quebec, Linda led efforts to supply Ottawa shelters with food.

Anne Ottenbrite
You could say that Canada’s Anne Ottenbrite was born to swim the breaststroke. At age 3, she learned to swim in her backyard pool in Whitby, Ontario and immediately started using a whip kick. It came very naturally to her and by age 12 she was swimming competitively at the Oshawa Aquatic Club.

Between 1981 and 1984, she won the silver and bronze medals in the 100m and 200m breaststroke at the Guayaquil 1982 World Championships, the gold and silver medals in the 200m and 100m breaststroke at the 1982 Commonwealth Games and 5 Canadian National Titles in the breaststroke. She was twice named Canada’s Female Swimmer of the Year.

Because her undulating body motion caused her legs to break the water’s surface, she was disqualified in a few international invitationals resulting in a slight kick-stroke change to assure not being disqualified in the Olympics. But her biggest problem before the Los Angeles Olympics occurred when she accidentally dislocated her knee. Being loose jointed, she didn’t rip any tendons. But she couldn’t kick and was forced to do only pulling in workouts. Her tremendous flexibility helped her rehabilitation (she could turn her feet around completely backwards and twirl her arms at the elbows).

Competing in the Olympic Games of 1984 was her goal. She had won the gold medal in the Pan American Games the year before and was Canada’s top breaststroker for the medley relay. Her dilemma was that her bad knee prevented her from swimming in the Olympic Trials. Fortunately, Canadian Technical irector and Head Coach Trevor Tiffany declared that Anne would be added to the team, irregardless of the complaints of coaches who said she never officially qualified for the team. Trevor knew that Anne was one of Canada’s best chances for a medal. His foresightedness paid off when 18 year old Ottenbrite became Canada’s first-ever gold medalist in women’s swimming by capturing the 200m breaststroke.

Sylive Bernier
Sylvie started diving at the age of 11 and in in 1977 at the young age of 13 she won the Canadian National Championships. 1984 was her last year to compete and in 1985 she became a member of the Order of Canada. In 1984 She received the status of Canadian Female Athlete of the year by Excellence. Recently, Sylvie was been named the assistant chef de mission for Canada's team at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.

1988
The 1988 Olympics were the first Games in 16 years not to witness a boycott. But there were several concerns brewing before the Games. The commercial benefits for athletes who won an Olympic gold were growing and the use of performance-enhancing drugs by athletes was an increasing concern. One person who did not have to worry was Carolyn Waldo. Carolyn Waldo, synchronized swimmer, was Canada’s first female athlete to win two gold medals in one Olympic games. Carolyn is currently working as a sportcaster in Ottawa.

1992
The Olympic code of amateurism was broken when professional athletes were allowed to participate in the 1992 Games. The medal count for Canada was second only to the 1984 Olympics. Canada had several gold medal winners at the Games including Sylvie Frechette and Silken Laumann. The rowing team brought home four gold medals.

Two of Canada's medal winners were particularly notable because of what they had to overcome. Synchronized swimmer Sylvie Frechetteis fiance killed himself just days before she left for the Games. Still grieving she put on a winning performance at the Games only to have a judge inadvertently push the wrong score for one of her compulsory figures. The judge quickly tried to fix her error but could not and the mark was ruled official. The mistake cost Frechette the gold medal. After 16 months of lobbying the medal was given to Frechette. She and the American who initially got the gold are listed as medallists.

Canadian rower Laumann, a definite favourite for a gold medal in Barcelona, was severely injured two months before the Games when a German crew's boat sliced through the muscle of her right leg during warm-up at a regatta in Germany. She was so badly hurt that doctors said she might not walk again. Remarkably she continued to train and, after undergoing several operations, placed third in Barcelona.

1996

Clara Hughes, who finished third in the women's cycling road race, won bronze.
The women's basketball team lost a tough one to Brazil. Players were to admit at the end of the tournament that this defeat marked a low point for the squad, which never did recover until its final outing against Zaire.

Shannon Shakespeare set a Canadian record 56.05 during the heats of the women's 4x100M freestyle. The Canadian team also lowered the national standard, to 3:45.66, as Marianne Limpert, Andrea Moody, Julie Howard and Shakespeare qualified for the final, where they finished seventh.
Canada was standing fourth after the dressage section of the team three-day event with Claire Smith and Stuart Young-Black in the saddles.

Marianne Limpert turned in the race of her young life, swimming to silver in the 200M individual medley. Joining Limpert on the evening schedule were Joanne Malar, fourth in the 200M medley, Stephen Clark, who was seventh in the 100M butterfly, and the women's 4x100M medley relay team of Julie Howard, Guylaine Cloutier, Sarah Evanetz and Shannon Shakespeare. The girls team finished fifth.

There were tears all around at the pool where Anne Montminy, who figured to be a medal contender, had what she called the worst day of her career. She didn't get past the preliminary stage of the 10M platform diving competition. Paige Gordon also was eliminated. Things were frustrating at the cycling track, too, where Tanya Dubnicoff finished a disappointing eighth in the women's sprint.

Not to be outdone, rowers Marnie McBean and Kathleen Heddle became Canada's first and only three-time Olympic gold medallists with their victory in the double sculls. Silken Laumann came to the competition healthy this time and it showed, as she rowed to silver in the single skulls, a performance matched by Derek Porter in the men's singles.

At Lake Lanier the rowers continued to fill their boats with medals. The women's four - Marnie McBean, Kathleen Heddle, Laryssa Biesenthal and Diane O'Grady - came away with bronze in rowing. The women's eight with coxswain (Emma Robinson, Anna van der Kamp, Theresa Luke, Tosha Tsang, Alison Korn, Heather McDermid, Maria Maunder, Jessica Monroe and Lesley Thompson) enjoyed a silver-medal performance.

Alison Sydor, who had won six of the seven World Cup events this year, fought off the heat to make three trips around the nine-kilometre cross-country course at the Georgia International Horse Park and win the silver medal in the women's mountain bike event.

Annie Pelletier's remarkable comeback continued. After a near disaster in the preliminary round, when she came perilously close to elimination, Pelletier rallied to win the bronze in the three-metre diving event.

The proud women and girls of the synchronized swim team, their routine set to music incorporating Canada's national anthem, won the silver medal. It was a fitting reward for Lisa Alexander, Janice Bremner, Karen Clark, Karen Fonteyne, Sylvie Frechette, Valerie Hould-Marchand, Kasia Kulesza, Christine Larsen, Cari Read and Erin Woodley, who had left their homes and families to spend the past year training in Edmonton.

Clara Hughes stood on the medal podium again, earning the bronze in the women's road cycling event. On the basketball court the Canadian women played for pride, beating Zaire for their first and only win of the Games.

Caroline Brunet, who said she "lived in her own little world" in the days leading up to the final of the 500M solo kayak competition, emerged in the real world with a silver medal around her neck. Corrina Kennedy and Marie Josee Gibeau finished a close fifth in the women's K-2 while Steve Giles was eighth in the C-1.

2000

The 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, marked the 100th anniversary of women's participation in the Games.

At the Sydney Olympics, women competed in a number of sports for the first time including triathlon, pole vault and weightlifting. There is no doubt that Canadian women will continue to excel in all sports.

Among the winners at the Sydney Games, were Caroline Brunet (flag-bearer at the Opening Ceremonies), Anne Montminy and Emilie Heymans.

Failing to win the gold at the Sydney Games was painfully evident in Caroline Brunet's face and in her comments following the race, all those years of training have also taken a heavy toll, both physically and emotionally.

When Canadian diver Anne Montminy won bronze in the individual 10-metre platform, she was bummed out. She knew she could've done better. But the 25-year-old future lawyer from Pointe-Claire, Que., teamed up with 18-year-old Emilie Heymans and rebounded to win a silver medal for Canada in the 10-metre synchronized diving event at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre.