Art Smoke

Albert Smoke was a member of the Ojibwa nation and was raised in the Curve Lake area of Ontario. He won the ten mile Ontario Championships in 1920, a performance that prompted his club to pay for him to travel to compete at the Around the Bay Road Race in Hamilton was the Canadian Olympic Marathon Trial. After leading for the first sixteen miles he struggled and slipped back to finish fourth but this was still good enough to be picked for the Antwerp Games. Smoke did not perform well in Antwerp as a training collision with a cyclist had affected his preparations and he dropped out of the Marathon suffering from blistered feet.

The following year he won the Hamilton Road Race but his finest performance probably came in 1922 when he finished third in the Boston Marathon behind Clarence DeMar and Ville Ritola. After his running career ended he settled in Lindsay, Ontario and worked as a trapper and fishing guide until his death at the age of just 53.

Personal Best: Mar – unknown.