Parks Canada has admitted to an error in its historical commemoration of high jumper Ethel Catherwood, incorrectly identifying her as the first Canadian woman to win an Olympic gold medal in track and field.
Blacklock's Reporter says in reality, Catherwood was neither the first gold medalist nor a Canadian citizen at the time.
“The title and quote in the news release were not clear,” said Parks Canada spokeswoman Megan Hope. “We will update it to reflect this and ask those who covered the story to issue a correction.”
On December 17, the agency named Catherwood the “first Canadian woman to win an Olympic gold medal in track and field” for her high jump victory at the 1928 Amsterdam Summer Games.
However, records from the Olympic Foundation show that the first Canadian women to win gold that year were members of the 4x100m relay team: Jane Bell, Myrtle Cook, and Ethel Smith of Toronto, along with Fanny Rosenfeld of Barrie, Ontario.
Catherwood, born in North Dakota and raised in Saskatoon, was a natural talent but not known for her dedication to training.
Fanny Rosenfeld, who later became a sportswriter for the Globe & Mail, described Catherwood as “lazy and moody” in a 1950 column. “Though a great athlete, she was never a hard trainer,” Rosenfeld wrote. “Most of her ability was natural.”
Rosenfeld recounted Catherwood’s relaxed approach at the 1928 Games: “Ethel’s idea of a perfect day as I found her at Amsterdam was to lie abed with a box of rum and butter toffee and a ukulele, eating and strumming. The rum, the butter and the toffee can split the credit for her performance in winning the Olympic high jump.”
While Catherwood did win gold in the high jump, her story is intertwined with that of other Canadian women who broke barriers at the 1928 Games — the first Olympics to allow women to compete in track and field.
The Historic Sites and Monuments Board, which recommended Catherwood for recognition in 2022, portrayed her as a feminist icon.
“She helped to expand the perceived limits of athletic performance for women in sports while facing endemic sexism and unwanted attention as a young woman in a male-dominated field,” the board wrote.
Catherwood, who later became a recluse, died in California in 1987. The correction to her historical portrayal underscores the achievements of all Canadian women at the 1928 Games, a pivotal moment in the history of women’s sports.