Parks Canada mistakenly names wrong athlete as first female Olympic gold medalist

Parks Canada is facing criticism after misidentifying Saskatoon’s Ethel Catherwood as Canada’s first female Olympic gold medalist in track and field.

Blacklock's Reporter says historical records reveal that Catherwood, who won gold in the women’s high jump at the 1928 Amsterdam Games, was actually preceded by a relay team of Canadian women who won gold earlier the same day.

In a December 17 announcement, Parks Canada described Catherwood as the “first Canadian woman to win an Olympic gold medal in track and field.”

The agency declined to disclose its source for the claim, which has been debunked by Olympic records and historical accounts.

According to the Olympic Foundation for Culture in Lausanne, the women’s 4x100 meter relay final, featuring Canadians Jane Bell, Myrtle Cook, Fanny Rosenfeld, and Ethel Smith, concluded before Catherwood’s high jump final began.

“The final race of the women’s 4x100 metre relay started at 2 pm, while the final of the women’s high jump took place at 2:30 pm,” the Foundation confirmed, citing official timetables and Dutch newspaper clippings from the 1928 Games.

Bell, Cook, Rosenfeld, and Smith became Canada’s first female track and field gold medalists that day, marking a historic achievement at the first Olympics to allow women in the sport.

Bell was the last surviving member of the team, passing away in 1998.

Despite the mix-up, Parks Canada unveiled a plaque honoring Catherwood on Tuesday at Bedford Road Collegiate, the Saskatoon high school she briefly attended at 17.

The plaque commemorates her contributions to Canadian athletics and acknowledges her high jump victory as a milestone in women's sports.

Dr. Valerie Korinek, Saskatchewan’s representative on the Historic Sites and Monuments Board, called Catherwood’s story “an example of Canadian can-do spirit” in comments made prior to the event.

She declined to elaborate further after the error came to light.

Ethel Catherwood, born in North Dakota and later reclusive in California, died in 1987.

Parks Canada has not commented on the error or whether it plans to revise the historical designation.