Shirley Gordon
Shirley Gordon (married Olafsson; born April 10, 1927 in Vancouver , † November 23, 2019 ) was a Canadian high jumper .
Career
Although she was born with a clubfoot and had to use crutches until she was 15, she tried various sports at school. She finally decided on the high jump, in which she varied the then usual shear jump so that she jumped off and landed with her strong right foot.
At the Olympic Games in London in 1948 she was eleventh and fifth at the British Empire Games in Auckland in 1950 .
In 1949 she became Canadian champion. She set her personal best of 1.56 m on June 30, 1948 in Vancouver .
In 2004 she was inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame .
Web links
- Shirley Gordon in the database of trackfield.brinkster.net (English)
- Widow, 84, didn't let disability stop her from reaching Olympics , portrait of Tom Hawthorn in The Globe and Mail , Sept. 21, 2011
- Olympian with "turned foot" made history , portrait of Jason Beck in the Vancouver Courier, October 14, 2011
- Shirley Gordon in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )
Footnotes
- ↑ [1]
- ^ BC Sports Hall of Fame and Museum: Shirley Olafsson
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Gordon, Shirley |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Olafsson, Shirley |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Canadian high jumper |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 10, 1927 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Vancouver |
| DATE OF DEATH | 23rd November 2019 |