Description

Canada's first Olympic gold medallist couldn't walk until he was ten, and became the greatest runner of his generation.

Who was the first Canadian to Win an Olympic Gold Medal? When Mark Hebscher was asked this simple trivia question, he had no idea that it would lead him on a two year odyssey, researching a man he had never heard of.

Paralyzed as a child and told he would never walk again, George Washington Orton persevered, eventually becoming the greatest distance runner of his generation, a world-class hockey player, and a brilliant scholar. A sports pioneer, Orton came up with the idea of numbered football jerseys and introduced ice hockey to Philadelphia. Orton's 1900 Paris Olympic medals were credited to the United States for seven decades before the mistake was uncovered and rectified. Yet he is virtually unknown in Canada. Finally, his story is being told.

The Greatest Athlete (You've Never Heard Of): Canada's First Olympic Gold Medallist

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£15.10

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Paperback / softback by Mark Hebscher , Ron MacLean

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Canada's first Olympic gold medallist couldn't walk until he was ten, and became the greatest runner of his generation. Who... Read more

    Publisher: Dundurn Group Ltd
    Publication Date: 25/04/2019
    ISBN13: 9781459743359, 978-1459743359
    ISBN10: 1459743350

    Number of Pages: 248

    Non Fiction , Biography

    Description

    Canada's first Olympic gold medallist couldn't walk until he was ten, and became the greatest runner of his generation.

    Who was the first Canadian to Win an Olympic Gold Medal? When Mark Hebscher was asked this simple trivia question, he had no idea that it would lead him on a two year odyssey, researching a man he had never heard of.

    Paralyzed as a child and told he would never walk again, George Washington Orton persevered, eventually becoming the greatest distance runner of his generation, a world-class hockey player, and a brilliant scholar. A sports pioneer, Orton came up with the idea of numbered football jerseys and introduced ice hockey to Philadelphia. Orton's 1900 Paris Olympic medals were credited to the United States for seven decades before the mistake was uncovered and rectified. Yet he is virtually unknown in Canada. Finally, his story is being told.

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