Jean Wilson

This article is about the Canadian speed skater; on the US endocrinologist, see Jean D. Wilson .

Jean Wilson (born July 19, 1910 in Glasgow , † September 3, 1933 in Toronto ) was a speed skater starting for Canada .

Born in Scotland, Wilson moved to Canada with her parents as a toddler. At the age of 15, she started speed skating at the Toronto Speed ​​Skating Club . She became the main competitor at the national level for Lela Brooks , who was the world's leading speed skater in the late 1920s. Wilson beat Brooks in three races in 1930 and won all five of the competitions in which she competed in the 1931 North American Championships. As one of five Canadians (and of a total of ten female athletes), she started the demonstration competitions in speed skating as part of the 1932 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid . Wilson won the race over 500 meters, over 1000 meters she fell shortly before the finish line, over 1500 meters she finished second just behind Kit Klein .

A few months after her Olympic successes, Wilson was admitted to the Toronto Hospital with myasthenia gravis, a neurological disease that caused muscle breakdown . She passed away at the age of 23.

Wilson was among the first inducted members when the Hall of Fame for Canadian Sports was established in 1955. The local newspaper Toronto Telegram established the Jean Wilson Trophy in 1934 in her memory.

supporting documents

• Tom Boreskie: Olympic Showdown. Canadian speed skaters ruled the oval at the 1932 Lake Placid Games. In: Maclean’s . February 4, 2002. Page 56.
• J. Thomas West: Biography in The Canadian Encyclopedia . Published online March 19, 2008.
• Biography on the Hall of Fame of Canadian Sports page .