Shirley Gordon

Shirley Gordon was born with a deformed left foot, but refused to let that get in the way of a career in athletics, which she took up during World War II. She chose the high jump as her specialty and excelled sufficiently to come in second in the event at the 1948 Canadian national championships. This led to her being selected to represent her country in the high jump at that year’s London Olympics. At the Games, she was joint-11th in a field of 19 competitors, and the following year she became Canadian champion. She was then fifth in the high jump at the 1950 British Empire Games and continued jumping through 1952.

Gordon eventually turned to coaching, in both athletics and her other passion, basketball, and married Canadian basketball international Herbert Olafsson. In 2008 she was part of the Beijing Paralympic torch relay, and in 2010 took part in the Vancouver Winter Olympic torch relay. She was inducted into the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.

Personal Best: HJ – 1.562 (1948).