Dave Beland

Dave Beland began running in his native Quebec at the turn of the century and soon turned international, competing for Canada at the 1908 Summer Olympics in the 100 m event, but failing to reach the finals. He had not originally been selected for the Canadian team, but his friends had organized a petition and collected sufficient funds for him to travel with to London. At the games he presented himself as an independent runner from Quebec, although he was affiliated with the Zouave Amateur Athletic Association at the time. Only a few months later, however, he was kicked out of his athletic club and his position as coach for a strange scandal involving his Olympic teammate Fred Meadows of Ontario.

In late October 1908 a runner by the name of “Walter Beland” won Quebec’s annual Telegraph Road Race. Prior to the race, however, the organizers, having never heard of Walter, had become suspicious and began to investigate. It was soon discovered that “Walter Beland” was actually Fred Meadows, and that Dave Beland had altered documents to allow Meadows to compete as if he were from the province, so that he would be eligible to run in the Quebec City versus Montreal competition. Dave knew that Meadows, a former five-mile champion, would be able to give Quebec City the upper hand. To add credibility to the scheme, Dave also claimed that Meadows, who was now in the guise of “Walter Beland”, was his brother. Both Meadows and Beland lost their amateur standing as a result of the scandal, in Beland’s case for having organized the scam.

Personal Best: 100 – unknown.