Ethel catherwood biography

Ethel Catherwood (April 28, 1908 – September 26, 1987) was a Canadian Olympic athlete.
Canada's Ethel Catherwood, nicknamed the “Saskatoon Lily” by legendary sports writer Lou Marsh, was the most photographed female athlete at Amsterdam 1928.
Ethel Catherwood was a Canadian Olympic athlete.

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Ethel Catherwood was born in North Dakota in 1908 and homesteaded with her family near Scott, Saskatchewan. The Catherwood family moved to Saskatoon in 1925 and she and her sister were enrolled in Bedford Road Collegiate. She blossomed as a high jumper, winning gold in the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics. Within three years, the bloom was beginning to fade.

Injuries began to plague her, and she failed to qualify for the 1932 Olympics. However, her celebrity back home, and even offers from Hollywood, kept her in the spotlight. After a series of failed marriages, she retreated first from her country, then her sport, then her family. She reportedly sold all her medals and trophies and when asked for interviews, she expressed her disdain for sport and for Canada.

Ethel Hannah Catherwood remains the only Canadian female to ever win gold in an individual track and field Olympic event. She died a recluse, after a battle with cancer, in 1987.

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Catherwood, Ethel (1908-87)

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The stamp honouring Ethel Catherwood was issued by Canada Post in 1966

Canada Post Corporation Reproduced with permission.

Ethel Catherwood is the only Canadian female athlete to have won an individual gold medal in Olympic Track and Field. Born in North Dakota on April 28, 1908, Catherwood and her family settled in Scott, Saskatchewan and moved to Saskatoon in 1925. Within a two-week period in 1926 she equaled the Canadian women's high-jumping record, then broke the world record. At the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam she won the Gold medal in the women's high jump. Known as the “Saskatoon Lily,” Catherwood gave up competitive jumping and moved to the United States in 1929. She is a member of the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame (1949) and the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame (1955). Catherwood was one of the original inductees to the Saskatchew

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Ethel Catherwood (1908–1987) National Historic Person

Ethel Catherwood was designated as a national historic person in 2022.

Historical importance: set multiple national and world records between 1926 and 1930, helped to expand the perceived limits of athletic performance for women in sports.

Commemorative plaque: will be installed at Bedford Road Collegiate School, 722 Bedford Road, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan^{Footnote 1}

Ethel Catherwood (1908-1987)
This world-class high jumper helped break down barriers for women in track and field, while facing widespread sexism and unwanted attention as a woman. She set multiple national and world records in high jump and javelin between 1926 and 1930 at a time when women began competing in athletic events internationally. She won the gold medal in the high jump at the 1928 Amsterdam official Olympic Games, the first to allow women to compete in track and field. The brilliant athletic performance of Catherwood and her “Matchless Six” teammates earned Canada four medals and secured the place of women in Olympic track and field