Canadian Singles, 10,000 metres, Men

The C-1 10000 was held at an international level for the first time at the 1948 Summer Olympics, which meant that the event was anyone’s for the taking. There were five entrants, only two of whom were old enough to have had careers prior to World War II: František Čapek of Czechoslovakia and Norm Lane of Canada. Čapek won the day in London, capturing gold 35 seconds ahead of Frank Havens of the United States, who took silver. Havens father Bill had been selected to represent the United States as a rower at the 1924 Summer Olympics, but elected to remain home in order to be with his wife when she gave birth to Frank and never again got the opportunity to compete at the Games. Thus, Frank’s silver medal was a tribute to his father, who missed out on his own chance to medal, but Frank would honor his father even more in 1952, when he won the C-1 10000. Lane came in for the bronze medal nearly two minutes later.