Raising the bar: near record year for Olympic participation
The Games of the XXXI Olympiad in Rio de Janeiro this year will mark UBC Track & Field's 2nd most successful games in terms of participation. 7 former Thunderbirds will be a part of what many are calling Athletics Canada's strongest Olympic contingent ever! Only in 1972 did we send more athletes, when a total of 8 Thunderbirds and their coach Lionel Pugh made the trip to Munich.
These Games also mark the first time that a Canadian High Jumper has qualified for 3 Olympic Games (Michael Mason), and only the 2nd time that a UBC alumna has qualified for multiple Olympics (Liz Gleadle following Thelma Wright who competed in 1972 and 1976).
A complete listing of UBC's 41 Olympians and 8 Olympic Coaching staff can be found below.
1928 Amsterdam
Harry Warren
Percy Williams
Bob Granger - Coach
1932 Los Angeles
Harold Wright
Percy Williams
1936 Berlin
Howie McPhee
1948 London
Lionel Fournier
Ezra Hennigar
Peter Mullins
Bill Parnell
Fred Rowell - Manager
1952 Helsinki
Eleanor Cave Whyte
Eleanor McKenzie
Bill Parnell
Doug Clement
1956 Melbourne
Doug Clement
Doug Kyle
Diane Matheson
Bob Osborne - Manager
1960 Rome
Doug Kyle
Sally McCallum
1968 Mexico City
Ann Covel
Norm Trerise
John Minichiello - Coach
1972 Munich
Thelma Wright
John Hawkins
Debbie Brill
John Beers
Ken Elmer
Rick Cuttel
Brenda Eisler
Bill Smart
Lionel Pugh - Coach
1976 Montreal
Thelma Wright
Tom Howard
Patti Loverock
1980 Moscow (boycott)
Anne Mackie-Morelli
Lionel Pugh - Coach
1984 Los Angeles
Simon Hogewerf
Paul Williams
Ian Newhouse
Doug Clement - Coach
1988 Seoul
Simon Hoogewerf
Graeme Fell
Paul Williams
Carey Nelson
Doug Clement - Coach
1992 Barcelona
Graeme Fell
Paul Williams
Doug Clement - Coach
1996 Atlanta
Carey Nelson
Jeff Schiebler
Carmyn James - Coach
2000 Sydney
Jeff Schiebler
Marek Jedrzejek - Coach
2008 Beijing
Michael Mason
2012 London
Michael Mason
Liz Gleadle
Inaki Gomez
Curtis Moss
2016 Rio de Janeiro
Michael Mason
Liz Gleadle
Inaki Gomez
Maria Bernard
Evan Dunfee
Luc Bruchet
Ben Thorne
