Valerie Jerome

Valerie Jerome was the granddaughter of Army Howard, who in 1912 became Canada’s first black Olympian when he competed in four track events at the Stockholm Games. She and her brother Harry took up that sport in 1957, and within two years both were competing at the 1959 Pan American Games, where Valerie took bronze with the 4x100 metres relay (with Sally McCallum, Maureen Rever, and the non-Olympian Heather Campbell) and was seventh in the long jump. Both were also selected to take part in the 1960 Rome Olympics, where Valerie and McCallum, along with Eleanor Haslam and Nancy Lewington, were eliminated in round one of the 4x100 metres. Jerome was also eliminated in the quarter-finals of the 100 metres.

After tearing a hamstring, Jerome retired from competition, graduated from the University of British Columbia, and worked as a teacher. With the encouragement of her husband, however, she resumed training and qualified for the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. She also qualified for the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, but opted not to attend to focus on her personal life. She later worked as an athletics official for many years and was also an activist for racial justice and environmental issues, and ran in elections as a member of the Green Party.

Personal Best: 100 – 11.8 (1960).