Harry Jerome was an Olympic Track and Field athlete who not only shared the title of “Fastest Man Alive” for eight years but also fought to improve opportunities for black youth in Canadian sports. Born in Prince Albert Saskatchewan with the name Winston Jerome, Harry Jerome moved to North Vancouver at the age of 12 with his mother and father. He competed in track and field at a university level while attending the University of Oregon and was a member of the Canadian track and field team in the years 1960, 1964 and 1968 for the Summer Olympics. During his athletic career Jerome set a total of seven world records and tied for the 100 meter record at 10.0 seconds in 1960, he later tied for the 100 yard dash world record at 9.3 seconds making him one of the few athletes to simultaneously hold the world record for the 100 meter and 100 yard dash. What should have been a promising Olympic career for Jerome became one of the many trials to overcome in his athletic career. After pulling his quadricep muscles in the 100 meter semi finals in Rome Jerome was out of the competition. Doctors believed this injury would cripple Jerome and the media portrayed him as a quitter but after two years of painful rehabilitation he ran in the 1964 Olympics winning a bronze medal. In the 1968 Summer Olympic games he finished seventh despite his physical injuries and negative view in the press he never gave up. At the end of the 1968 season he retired from international competitions and began working in the Federal Ministry of Sport developing the B.C Premier’s Sport Award Program to encourage young people to become active and achieve their athletic dreams. Harry Jerome was a mentor and inspiration to many Canadians and in 1971 he was named British Columbia’s Athlete of the Century. He died suddenly of a brain aneurysm on December 7th 1982 at the age of 42. A bronze statue of Harry Jerome stands in Stanley Park as a reminder of his determination and refusal to give up on his dreams.

Harry Jerome Statue / Pixabay