Fair Game: Pioneering Canadian Women in Sports

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Topic spans: 1928 - 2003

Fair Game: Pioneering Canadian Women in Sports

Throughout history, "ladies" were discouraged from participating in team sports because it was thought competition would lead to "manly" behaviours. But thanks to pioneering athletes such as Bobbie Rosenfeld, Nancy Greene and Hayley Wickenheiser, young women now have the freedom to participate and excel in any sport — be it track, skiing or hockey. These women not only excelled in their chosen fields but were instrumental in shattering stereotypes of the female athlete.

Topic image of Canada's 1924 women's Olympic basketball team reproduced with the permission of Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.

9 television clips

11 radio clips

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Submitted by: Chelsea

One of the greatest all-around athletes

Broadcast Date: July 15, 1964

Fanny "Bobbie" Rosenfeld is one of Canada's — if not the world's — greatest all-around athletes. The easiest way to describe Rosenfeld's athletic prowess is to say that she isn't a great swimmer. At a time when women are considered delicate flowers, Rosenfeld breaks convention by excelling at every sport she participates in — track, tennis, basketball, softball, speed skating and hockey. Rosenfeld remembers some career highlights, including her 1928 Olympic medal wins, in this 1964 CBC Radio interview.

Arthritis forces Rosenfeld to retire in 1933. Rosenfeld then trades in her gym shoes for the pen, writing a column called Sports Reel for the Globe and Mail from 1937 to 1957. In 1949, she becomes one of the first inductees into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. A year later, Rosenfeld is named Canada's outstanding female athlete of the half century by the Canadian Press.

One of the greatest all-around athletes

• In 1923 Bobbie Rosenfeld captured the attention of the sports establishment when she entered the 100-metre dash "just for the heck of it" at a small track and field meet in Beaverton, Ont. Rosenfeld won the race only to find out she had beaten Rosa Grosse, the reigning Canadian champion.

• Canadian women dominated track and field at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics. Rosenfeld was a member of the record-breaking gold medal relay team along with Florence Bell, Myrtle Cook and Ethel Smith. Rosenfeld also won silver in the 100-metre dash, with Ethel Smith taking the bronze. Ethel Catherwood of Saskatoon won the gold medal in the high jump.

• The decision to send Canada's first women's track and field team to the 1928 Olympics was controversial but their success made them heroes back home.
• In 1924, Cecil Eustace Smith, a 15-year-old figure skater, was the first woman to represent Canada at the first official Olympic Winter Games at Chamonix, France.

• Rosenfeld told CBC's Foster Hewitt that her favourite sport was hockey because of its speed. She was named Ontario's most outstanding female hockey player in the 1931-1932 season.
• Rosenfeld died in 1969 at age 65.

One of the greatest all-around athletes

Medium: Radio

Program: Assignment

Broadcast Date: July 15, 1964

Guest(s): Bobbie Rosenfeld

Host: Bill McNeil
Reporter: Norm Perry

Duration: 8:22

Photo: Reproduced from the National Library of Canada's website (www.nlc-bnc.ca)

Last updated:
May 12, 2003

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