Wayne Gretzky Hometown: Brantford, Ontario. Samir Hussein 23/35 Michael Bubl Born in Burnaby, British Columbia, the crooner is one of Canada's most. Donovan Bailey Hometown: Manchester, Jamaica (immigrated to Oakville, Ontario). McDavid, a speedy centre, was the first pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, and recently made his first All-Star appearance at the professional level. The grandson of Patriote Louis-Joseph Papineau, Bourassa was an independent thinker who became a political model for his generation and the next. Or, in the case of the Canadian women's hockey team, back-to-back-to-back-to-back. Oleksiak is a freestyle and butterfly swimmer who won 4 medals (a record for a Canadian athlete at a single Summer Olympics) at the Rio Olympics: gold in the 100m freestyle, silver in the 100m butterfly, and bronze in both the 4 x 100m and 4 x 200m freestyle relays. Oleksiakss impressive breakthrough performance in Rio earned her the honor of being named Canadas flag bearer for the Olympic Closing Ceremonies, and won her the Lou Marsh award, given annually to the top Canadian athlete of that year. After a spinal cord injury at 15, he became a paraplegic. To mark its 30th Mario Lemieux -- When looking at the top-five French speaking players of all time, No . Axelle/Bauer-Griffin 22/35 Rachel McAdams This Mean Girl was born in London, Ontario. Whether it was donating to Right to Play or breaking down the stigma around mental illness in Bell's "Let's Talk" campaign, she's a champion through and through. She joined the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) athlete committee in 2005 and in 2012 was appointed to their executive committee. Andre De Grasse is a Canadian track and field athlete best known for winning the gold medal in the men's 200 metres event at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. Box 500 Station A Toronto, ON Canada, M5W 1E6. The first Canadian-born athlete to hold an official world track record, three-time Olympian Harry Jerome broke the Canadian record in the 220-yard dash when he was only 18 years old. Top 10 Canadian Athletes Right Now Sidney Crosby - Hockey Penny Oleksiak - Swimming Andre De Grasse - Track and field Milos Raonic - Tennis Damian Warner Derek Drouin - High jumper Brooke Henderson - Golf Christine Sinclair - Soccer Connor McDavid - Hockey Andrew Wiggins - Basketball Eugenie Bouchard - Tennis In 1834, the Patriotes won a large majority in the Legislative Assembly and prepared a series of reforms, dubbed the Ninety-Two Resolutions, which would allow French Canadians to win power in Lower Canada through responsible government. Two-time national champion and retired Canadian figure skater Nam Nguyen has also been a World Junior Champion in 2014. Sinclair has won the Canada Soccer Player of the Year award an outstanding 12 times in her career and is a 6 time nominee of FIFAs World Player of the Year award. Donovan Bailey Getty/Tim Clayton-Corbis As Insider reported, 23-year-old Osaka, the No. Widely considered as the greatest all-around player in hockey history, Howe set the bar by playing until age 52, a mark that has never been beat. Their homecoming to Toronto was nuts. Victor Davis, Guelph Andre De Grasse, Scarborough / Markham Lori Dupuis, Cornwall Dave Edge (born 1954), British-Canadian Olympic long-distance runner Terry Farnsworth (born 1942), Olympic judoka Mark Fawcett, Nelson, British Columbia Shaul Gordon (born 1994), Canadian-Israeli Olympic sabre fencer Ethel May Smith (July 5, 1907 - December 31, 1979) was a sprinter from Canada who won two medals at the Amsterdam 1928 Summer Olympics: a bronze medal in the 100 m, and a gold team medal in the 4 100 m relay. Clara Hughes Hometown: Winnipeg, Manitoba. Just before winning four consecutive Olympic gold medals in hockey, Wickenheiser starred for the softball team at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He won three Welterweight Championships between 2006 and 2008 and was listed as the number one welterweight in the world for several years. Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe are two among the most famous ice hockey players the country has seen. Henri Bourassa, born in 1868 in Montral, had a significant impact on Canadian politics through his nationalist position, which still resonates today. He is a Black Belt in both Judo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He has won two silver medals and three bronze medals in two Olympic Games so far. A native of Smith Falls, Ontario, Henderson also represented Canada at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Women's basketball didn't become an official Olympic sport until 1976. Lets dive into the list of some of the most famous French athletes of all time. Mark McKoy is a Canadian former track and field athlete. Cindy Klassen Hometown: Winnipeg, Manitoba. At the 2006 winter Olympic, Klassen became the only Canadian athlete to ever win five medals at one Olympic games. Playing in other North American professional leagues, Former NCAA Division I players awaiting professional play. Army Howard Army Howard competes in the 4th round of the 100m at the Inter-Allied Games at the Pershing Stadium in Paris in July 1919. Before there was Montral, there was Hochelaga a sixteenth-century agricultural community that mysteriously vanished. The Saskatchewan-raised athlete skated for both the Oilers and the Boston Bruins, and was also playing for Edmonton's AHL affiliate team, the Bakersfield Condors, in the 2019-2020 season. Her hard work and leadership provide an excellent example for other aspiring athletes. Throughout the years, hundreds of Canadian athletes have made their mark on the world of sport and represented Canada at the highest level. As the captain of Canadas hockey team, Philip-Poulin has led her team to two Olympic gold medals plus a silver medal. Sufia Banu In 2004, he was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. JB Blanc (born 1969), actor; father of French descent. Olympic silver medalist Canadian long-distance runner Mohammed Ahmed scripted history as Canadas first medal winner at the 5,000m at both the World Championships and the Olympics. Competing in his first Olympics, he won a silver medal in the 200m, and bronze medals in the 100m and 4 x 100m relay. Three-time Olympian Canadian track and field athlete and bobsledder Phylicia George is also an Olympic bronze medalist in the two-woman bobsleigh category. While he started his training in ice hockey at age 5, he later switched to figure skating. 7 Curling. He was a goal scorer, a puck-handler, a scrapper, a bruiser, a leader, a right-hand man. This week its the top 15 athletes in Canadas decorated sports history. They're the most successful team in Canadian history, winning an astounding 95 per cent of their matches. He spent five years inside the top 10 of the World Golf Rankings, sandwiched around his historic Masters win in 2003. Born William Anthony Parker, Jr., in Belgium to an African-American father and a Dutch mother, Tony Parker was raised in France and became a naturalized French citizen at the age of 15. Weve made a list of some of the most influential, and while its impossible to rank the best of the best, were sure youll agree that each of the athletes on this list has had a big impact on sports in Canada. named GSP the Canadian Athlete of the Year in 2008, 2009 and 2010, and only Anderson Silva (2,457 days) had a longer title run than GSP (2,204 days). He defended his world title eight times before coming out of four-year retirement to win the middleweight world title in 2017. by He won a gold medal at the 1934 British Empire Games in London, where he represented British Guiana. This International Women's Day, let's celebrate some of Canada's female heroes of the past and not-so distant past. Born in Montral in 1786, he grew up at his family's estate and studied law. Ethel Smith (1907 - 1979). Lemieuxs career was ultimately shortened by injury, a mid-career retirement and even cancer, but number 66 is still considered one of the most talented and influential players to ever play the game. In the weeks leading up to July 1st, we will be releasing articles on the best Canada has to offer. The famous athlete was nicknamed 'The Big Train'. Hundreds of thousands came out to celebrate and in 1950, Rosenfeld was named Canada's female athlete of the first half of the century. He continues to inspire countless Canadians after all these years. From 1972 to 1984, Shirley and Sharon Firth went to four consecutive Winter Olympics, shaped the sport of cross-country skiing in the north and ignited a conversation around indigenous culture. And this weekend Sidney Crosby will be taking his second Stanley Cup home to his Nova Scotia hometown. By the Sapporo Olympics of 1972, seven of Canada's nine nordic skiers were from the Mackenzie Delta. A true family affair. There are a few incredible young athletes in Canada that have a good chance of making it onto this list by the time their careers are done. She's a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, the IIHF Hall of Fame and is currently the Assistant Director of Player Development for the Toronto Maple Leafs. He is deemed one of the worlds greatest athletes. Canada men's national junior ice hockey team, List of members of Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, "Buzz builds over Burlington hoops phenom Simisola Shittu", "Negro Scores Win Before 5,000 Fans; Berger is Victor", "Jewish youngster opens Toronto tennis center", Canadian Cerebral Palsy Sports Association, Canadian Wheelchair Basketball Association, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_Canadian_sports_personalities&oldid=1141790586, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Alison Hart, daughter of Stu and Helen married Canadian wrestler, Brooke B. Hart, daughter of Alison Hart and Ben Bassarab married, This page was last edited on 26 February 2023, at 20:36. She had been threatened with expulsion from the tournament if she continued to miss press obligations. The Jamaican born, Canadian sprinter won gold in the 100m setting a new world record of 9.84 seconds in the process. In 2019, she already has two top-10 finishes under her belt and in 2018 she became the first Canadian woman to win the Canadian Women's Open in 45 years. Sidney Crosby no doubt deserves this ranking, given he has been at the top of his sport for the last decade, achieving great success both professionally with the NHLs Pittsburgh Penguins, and internationally as a member of Team Canada. Given the overwhelming reasons to be proud of our nations athletic output, what better time to look at the all time great athletes Canada hasgiven the sports world. 9 Freestyle skiing. Brooke has been a top-10 competitor on the LPGA for a couple years now, but she's still just 21 years old. He transformed from a moderate politician to a radical, openly attacking institutions such as the Legislative Council, whose non-elected members controlled the country. There are a number of Canadians doing good things on the PGA Tour, but that wasnt always the case. She'll look to win her first LPGA major since 2016 in April. She was 15 when she began training in hurdles. She retired in January of this year with 168 goals and 211 assists to her name in just 276 career games. You probably think of hockey and a variety of other winter sports, anything that requires snow and ice. Not only does Clara Hughes have six Olympic medals to her name, shes one of two athletes since Second World War to win medals in both the Summer and Winter Games. In 2011, Velma Springstead was posthumously elected as a member of the Hamilton Sports Hall of Fame. 2 Donovan Bailey Aside from the Masters, Weir had seven other PGA Tour victories between 1999 and 2007. Drouin also won gold at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, and won 5 NCAA titles while competing for the Indiana Hoosiers. He also scored one the most famous goals in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup (pictured above). Sharon Firth said: "The world was so fascinated by us skinny indian girls and boys and how we danced on skis. Louis-Joseph Papineau had a reputation as a hero and a defender of the rights of French Canadians, but he was also seen as a traitor to the nation and to the Commonwealth. He was born on 26th January 1961. An advocate for Indigenous issues, Chalmers has made efforts to connect with and inspire . For a time, Canadian sprinter Donovan Bailey held the record as the fastest man in the world. McBean, one of Canada's most decorated Olympians, and Heddle captured the gold in the coxless pair at Barcelona 1992 and followed it up with gold in the double sculls at Atlanta 1996. Thousands of pieces form Montrals historical patchwork quilt. She moved on to ski cross in Sochi 2014 and was predicted to be in the medal hunt at PyeongChang 2018 until she broke both legs in a World Cup event just before the Games. Drouin is the reigning Olympic and World Champion in Mens High Jump, as he won gold at the 2015 World Championships and 2016 Olympics. The project was supported by the Governor General Lord Durham but was rejected by London. Indigenous Canadian actor Jay Silverheels gained international popularity for playing Tonto, the Native American companion of the protagonist in the American western TV series The Lone Ranger. 1. Our team will be reviewing your submission and get back to you with any further questions. Guillemot held world records in 2,000 meters and 3,000 meters. Christian via wrestlingrumors.net Christian was pigeonholed for the longest time as a "tag team specialist" and for the most part he was exactly that early on in his career. Ben Johnson is a Canadian retired sprinter who was adjudged the world's fastest man during the 198788 season after he broke the 60m and 100m indoor world records. After retiring from tennis in 1932, he became pretty busy with his inventions, filing 20 new patents between the 1960s and 80s. His best-known role was Fezzik, the giant in the film The Princess Bride in 1987. As one of the worlds best decathletes, London, Ontarios Damian Warner is deserving of a spot on this list of the best Canadian athletes. He played professionally for Cannes in 1989. He later quit sports to pursue acting. Avril Lavigne, Singer Avril Lavigne VEVO Avril Lavigne has been making music almost her whole life, and she is without a doubt one of the most successful musicians ever to come out of Canada. READ MORE: Interesting Facts About Kylian Mbapp. Now such a list will undoubtedly bring about some strong opinions (rightfully so) so lets just get a few things out of the way first. Today, Longo is an all-time great racing cyclist who still competes on the Masters circuits in her 60s. Mark McKoy is a three-time Commonwealth champion, having won gold medals at the 1982 and 1986 Commonwealth Games. For instance, though there have been several notable Canadian baseball players, Fergie Jenkins was the first Canadian to win the Cy Young Award. Comments on this story are moderated according to our Submission Guidelines. The list features athletes from a wide variety of sports and eras. Copyright 2023 by AncoraThemes. In fact, his plan for Canadian independence from the British Parliament became reality in 1931, with the signing of the Statute of Westminster.