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John “Jack” Liddell MacDonald Gibson, athlete, administrator, dentist (born 10 September 1880 in Berlin [now Kitchener], ON; died 4 November 1954 in Calgary, AB). Jack “Doc” Gibson founded the world’s first professional hockey team (the Portage Lake Hockey Club in Houghton, Michigan) in 1903 and the first professional hockey league (the International Hockey League) in 1904. He has been called the “father of professional hockey” and the “father of hockey in Michigan.” He was an inaugural inductee into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 1973 and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1976.

Stephen John Nash, OC, OBC, basketball player (born 7 February 1974 in Johannesburg, South Africa). Steve Nash is widely considered the greatest Canadian basketball player of all time. He is a two-time National Basketball Association (NBA) Most Valuable Player (MVP) and the first Canadian to win the award. A point guard, Nash was an eight-time NBA all-star. He ranks third on the NBA’s all-time assists leaderboard with 10,335 and second in career free-throw percentage with 90.43 per cent. He represented Canada in international competition and led the Canadian Senior Men’s National Team to the quarter-finals of the 2000 Olympic Summer Games. Nash is a three-time winner of the Lionel Conacher Award as Canada’s best male athlete. He won the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada’s top athlete in 2005. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada and has been inducted into the Order of British Columbia, Canada’s Walk of Fame, the Phoenix Suns Ring of Honour and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He was named to Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame on 27 May 2020 and will be formally inducted in 2021. He was named the head coach of the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets on 3 September 2020.

Howard William “Howie” Meeker, hockey broadcaster, player, coach (born 4 November 1923 in Kitchener, ON; died 8 November 2020 in Nanaimo, BC). Howie Meeker won a Junior B hockey championship and served with the army’s Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers before joining the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1946. He won the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie in 1947, and won four Stanley Cups in his first five years with the Maple Leafs. He also served as a Member of Parliament and played a key role in the development of hockey in Newfoundland. He was perhaps best known for his enthusiastic and influential commentary on CBC TV’s Hockey Night in Canada. A Member of the Order of Canada, Meeker was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame and the British Columbia Hockey Hall of Fame.

Raymond Gray (“Rapid Ray”) Lewis, CM, sprinter (born 8 October 1910 in Hamilton, ON; died 14 November 2003 in Hamilton, ON). Ray Lewis was the first Canadian-born Black athlete to earn an Olympic medal. He won a bronze medal in the 4 x 400 m relay at the 1932 Olympic Summer Games in Los Angeles. He was also part of the Canadian team that won the silver medal in the 4 x 400 m event at the 1934 British Empire Games in London, England. Lewis was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 2000.

Judith Lorie Kane, OC, golfer (born 19 December 1964 in Charlottetown, PEI). A four-time winner on the Ladies Professional Golfing Association (LPGA) Tour, Lorie Kane is tied with Sandra Post for the most LPGA wins by a Canadian golfer in a calendar year, with three. Kane is a two-time winner of the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award (1997, 2000) as Canada’s best female athlete and an Officer of the Order of Canada. She has been inducted into the Prince Edward Island Sports Hall of Fame, the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame and Museum and Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame.    

Brooke Mackenzie Henderson, golfer (born 10 September 1997 in Smiths Falls, ON). Golf phenom Brooke Henderson has won the Bobbie Rosenfeld Awardas Canada’s best female athlete three times (2015, 2017, 2018), as well as the ESPY Award for best female golfer in 2019. She is the youngest golfer ever to win a professional tournament (at age 14), the youngest ever to win the Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship (at 15), and the second youngest female golfer ever to win a major title (at 18). She holds the record for most victories (10) by a Canadian professional golfer on either the PGA or LPGA Tour, beating the previous record of eight held by George Knudson, Sandra Post and Mike Weir. In 2015, she became the first Canadian to win on the LPGA Tour since Lorie Kane in 2001. 

Diane Helen Jones Konihowski, OC, pentathlete, administrator (born 7 March 1951 in Vancouver, BC). Diane Jones Konihowski won gold medals for Canada in women’s pentathlon at the 1975 and 1979 Pan American Games and at the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton. She was considered the gold-medal favourite for the 1980 Olympic Summer Games in Moscow, which Canada boycotted. She also served as director of the Canadian Olympic Committee and as Canada’s chef de mission at the 2000 Olympic Summer Games in Sydney. A winner of the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award as Canada’s top female athlete and an Officer of the Order of Canada, Jones Konihowski has been inducted into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame, the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame and Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame.

Carol Huynh, wrestler, Olympic medallist (born 16 November 1980 in Hazelton, BC). Carol Huynh, the daughter of Vietnamese refugees, is the first Canadian woman to win an Olympic gold medal in wrestling. Her victory was also the first gold medal for Canada at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. In 2012, Huynh won the bronze medal in her division at the London Olympics. A winner of 11 Canadian championships, she has also won gold at the Commonwealth and Pan-American Games, and has medalled at four world wrestling championships.

Harry Winston Jerome, OC, track and field athlete, consultant, teacher (born 30 September 1940 in Prince Albert, SK; died 7 December 1982 in Vancouver, BC). Three-time Olympian Harry Jerome won the bronze medal in the 100 m race at the 1964 Olympic Summer Games in Tokyo, Japan. He also won gold medals at the 1966 Commonwealth Games and the 1967 Pan American Games. Jerome broke the Canadian record in the 220-yard dash when he was only 18 years old and set or equalled world records in the 60-yard indoor dash, the 100-yard dash, the 100 m sprint and the 440-yard relay. Following his retirement from competition, he promoted amateur and youth sport through national and provincial programs. Jerome also advocated for better support of Canadian athletes and for greater representation of racialized Canadians on Canadian television and advertising. He was the recipient of numerous honours and awards, including the Order of Canada.

​Larry Kwong, hockey player (born 17 June 1923 in Vernon, BC; died 15 March 2018 in Calgary, AB). On 13 March 1948, Kwong became the first Chinese Canadian to play a National Hockey League game, thereby breaking the colour barrier. He was also the first Asian-Canadian and first hockey player born in Vernon, BC, to play in the NHL.

Michael "Mike" Alfred Gartner, hockey player (b at Ottawa, Ont 29 Oct 1959). One of the NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE's fastest skaters, Mike Gartner is known for his consistent ability to score and his dedication to Canada's national teams in international competition.

Bianca Vanessa Andreescu, tennis player (born 16 June 2000 in Mississauga, Ontario). Romanian Canadian tennis player Bianca Andreescu won 19 junior singles titles and 13 junior doubles tournaments between 2012 and 2017, when she turned professional. In August 2019, she became the first Canadian since Faye Urban in 1969 to win the Rogers Cup. Andreescu then won the US Open in September 2019, making her the first Canadian singles tennis player to win a grand slam title. In 2019, she received the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award as Canada’s female athlete of the year and became the first tennis player to win the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada’s athlete of the year.

Sheldon Kennedy, CM, OM, AOE, hockey player, activist (born 15 June 1969 in Brandon, MB). Sheldon Kennedy is a retired professional ice hockey player and a public advocate for child abuse prevention. He was part of the 1988 World Junior Championship-winning team and captained the 1989 Memorial Cup champion Swift Current Broncos before playing eight seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). In 1996, he came forward with revelations of years of sexual abuse at the hands of his junior hockey coach. Named the Canadian Press Newsmaker of the Year in 1997, Kennedy became a public speaker and activist. He is a member of the Order of Manitoba, the Alberta Order of Excellence and the Order of Canada. He has been inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and received the Order of Hockey in Canada.

Ronald "Ron" Michael Francis, hockey player (b at Sault Ste Marie, Ont 1 Mar 1963). Ron Francis' long career in hockey garnered him several awards and he is known as one of the NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE's best-ever playmakers.

Michael Richard Weir, CM, OOnt, golfer (born 12 May 1970 in Sarnia, ON). Mike Weir is widely considered the one of the greatest Canadian golfers, and one of the best Canadian athletes, of all time. He became the first Canadian man to win one of professional golf’s four major tournaments when he won the 67th Masters Tournament in 2003. In total, he won eight events on the Professional Golf Association (PGA) Tour, tying him with George Knudson and Sandra Post for the most wins by a Canadian professional golfer (surpased by Brooke Henderson in 2019). Weir won the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada’s top athlete in 2003 and is a three-time winner of the Lionel Conacher Award as the country’s best male athlete. He has been inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame and Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame. He has also run a winery and several charitable foundations.

Joseph-Henri-Maurice Richard, "Rocket," PC, CC, OQ, hockey player (born 4 August 1921 in Montréal, QC; died 27 May 2000 in Montréal).

Henry “Gizmo” Williams, football player, motivational speaker (born 31 May 1962 in Memphis, Tennessee, United States). Gizmo Williams is considered the greatest return specialist in the history of the Canadian Football League (CFL). In 14 seasons with the Edmonton Eskimos (now Edmonton Elks) between 1986 and 2000, Williams set more than 20 CFL records, several of which still stand, including most punt returns (1,003); most yards on punt returns (11,134 yards); and most touchdowns on punt returns (26). He won the Grey Cup with Edmonton in 1987 and 1993 and was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2006.

Winnie Roach-Leuszler, swimmer (born 3 February 1926 in Port Credit, ON; died 1 May 2004 in Surrey, BC). Winnie Roach-Leuszler was a successful marathon swimmer. In 1951, after serving with the Canadian Women’s Army Corps during the Second World War, she became the first Canadian to swim the English Channel. She also won the French long-distance championship in 1962. A recipient of the Order of Ontario, Roach-Leuszler was inducted into the Canadian Forces Sports Hall of Fame, the Ontario Aquatic Hall of Fame and the Mississauga Sports Hall of Fame.