Ross Sheppard

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games
SexMale
Full nameRoss S.•Sheppard
Used nameRoss•Sheppard
Born22 November 1888 in Toronto, Ontario (CAN)
Died4 September 1967 in Edmonton, Alberta (CAN)
Affiliations?, Edmonton (CAN)
NOC Canada

Biography

Ross Sheppard excelled in several sports in high school and participated in football and track and field athletics during his tenure at the University of Toronto, where he graduated with honors on his physics degree. By 1913 he working in Edmonton as a teacher, but remained athletically active and continued to compete in local track and field events. He quickly took his talents to the provincial level, setting an Alberta provincial hop, step, and jump record in 1914. On the national level he participated in numerous Canadian Championships in jumping events between 1913 and 1925, winning the outdoor triple jump in 1922. He set the Canadian record for the standing high jump in 1924, which survived his 1967 death by over a year, and was selected to represent Canada in the triple jump at that year’s Summer Olympics. At the age of 35 he was the oldest participant in the event by almost three years and finished 16th in a field of 20 competitors.

After serving as President of the Amateur Athletic Union in Alberta in 1924, Sheppard left amateur sports and continued his career in education, eventually rising to the position of Superintendent of Schools in 1940. At his retirement in 1955 a new high school was named in his honor and he was inducted into the Edmonton and Alberta Sports Hall of Fame in 1961.

Personal Best: TJ – 13.52 (1924).

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal As
1924 Summer Olympics Athletics CAN Ross Sheppard
Long Jump, Men (Olympic) DNS
Triple Jump, Men (Olympic) 16