Canada at the 1920 Summer Olympics

Canada competed at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium. 52 competitors, all men, took part in 38 events in 9 sports.^[1] These games marked the introduction of winter sports to the Olympic program (competed in April 1920); Canada won its first gold medal for ice hockey.

Canada at the 1920 Summer Olympics
IOC code	CAN
NOC	Canadian Olympic Committee
Website	www.olympic.ca (in English and French)
in Antwerp
Competitors	52 in 9 sports
Flag bearer	Archie McDiarmid
Medals Ranked 12th	Gold 3 Silver 3 Bronze 3 Total 9
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
1900 1904 1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Other related appearances
1906 Intercalated Games

Medalists

Gold

• Winnipeg Falcons (Robert Benson, Walter Byron, Frank Fredrickson, Chris Fridfinnson, Magnus Goodman, Haldor Halderson, Konrad Johannesson, Allan Woodman) – Ice hockey, men's competition
• Earl Thomson – Athletics, men's 110 m hurdles
• Bert Schneider – Boxing, men's welterweight

Silver

• Clifford Graham – Boxing, men's bantamweight
• Georges Prud'Homme – Boxing, men's middleweight
• George Vernot – Swimming, men's 1500 m freestyle

Bronze

• Clarence Newton – Boxing, men's lightweight
• Moe Herscovitch – Boxing, men's middleweight
• George Vernot – Swimming, men's 400 m freestyle

Aquatics

Diving

Main article: Diving at the 1920 Summer Olympics

A single diver represented Canada in 1920. It was the nation's third appearance in the sport. Flint competed in all three of the men's events, but did not reach the final in any.

Men

Ranks given are within the semifinal group.

Diver	Event	Semifinals			Final
		Points	Score	Rank	Points	Score	Rank
Richard Flint	3 m springboard	29	480.70	5	did not advance
	10 m platform	28	351.35	6	did not advance
	Plain high dive	34	126.0	7	did not advance

Swimming

Main article: Swimming at the 1920 Summer Olympics

Three swimmers, all male, represented Canada in 1920. It was the nation's third appearance in the sport. Hodgson was unable to successfully defend his 1912 championships in the 400 and 1500 metre freestyle events, not even reaching the final in either; Vernot took a bronze and a silver in those events.

Ranks given are within the heat.

Men

Swimmer	Event	Quarterfinals		Semifinals		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Sidney Gooday	200 m breast	unknown	5	did not advance
	400 m breast	did not finish		did not advance
George Hodgson	400 m free	5:49.8	2 Q	unknown	4	did not advance
	1500 m free	24:36.6	2 Q	unknown	5	did not advance
George Vernot	100 m free	1:05.2	1 Q	1:05.8	3	did not advance
	400 m free	5:32.6	1 Q	5:27.8	1 Q	5:29.6
	1500 m free	23:40.0	1 Q	22:59.4	1 Q	22:36.4

Athletics

Main article: Athletics at the 1920 Summer Olympics

14 athletes represented Canada in 1920. It was the nation's fifth appearance in the sport, having competed in athletics every time the country competed at the Olympics. The best result for the team was Thomson's gold medal in the high hurdles, as Canada took a gold medal in athletics for the fifth straight Games.

Ranks given are within the heat.

Athlete	Event	Heats		Quarterfinals		Semifinals		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Cyril Coaffee	100 m		3	did not advance
	200 m		3	did not advance
James Dellow	Marathon	—						2:46:47.0	13
Edward Freeman	3 km walk	—					8	did not advance
	10 km walk	—				Disqualified		did not advance
Edward Lawrence	1500 m	—				4:04.4	5	did not advance
	10000 m	—				33:08.5	6	did not advance
Georges Norman	Marathon	—						2:58:01.0	22
Alexander Ponton	100 m	11.2	2 Q	11.4	5	did not advance
	200 m	22.8	2 Q	22.7	2 Q	22.9	4	did not advance
Hector Phillips	400 m	52.3	2 Q	51.4	5	did not advance
	800 m	—			5	did not advance
Arthur Scholes	Marathon	—						2:48:30.0	15
Albert Smoke	Marathon	—						did not finish
Earl Thomson	110 m hurdles	—		15.4	2 Q	15.0 WR	1 Q	14.8 WR
Thomas Towns	1500 m	—					5	did not advance
	5000 m	—				did not finish		did not advance
	Cross country	—						unknown	9

Athlete	Event	Qualifying		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank
John Cameron	Hammer throw	No mark	12	did not advance
William Kennedy	High jump	No mark	21	did not advance
Archie McDiarmid	Hammer throw	44.66	9	did not advance
	56 lb weight throw	9.475	4	10.12	4

Boxing

Main article: Boxing at the 1920 Summer Olympics

The Canadian Olympic Committee named W. A. Hewitt to its sub-committee for boxing to select who represented Canada at the Olympics,^[2] and had been credited with officiating hundreds of bouts as a boxing referee in Toronto.^[3] He oversaw travel arrangements for the national team to the remainder of the 1920 Summer Olympics which began in August.^[4] The boxers which he helped select won one gold, two silver, and two bronze medals for Canada.^[5]

Boxer	Weight class	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final / bronze match
		Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Chris Graham	Bantamweight	N/A	bye	Ricard (FRA) W	Hébrants (BEL) W	Walker (RSA) L
Moe Herscovitch	Middleweight	bye	Munting (NED) W	Bradley (RSA) W	Mallin (GBR) L	Strømme (NOR) W
Clarence Newton	Lightweight	N/A	Jensen (DEN) W	Sæterhaug (NOR) W	Johansen (DEN) L	Beland (RSA) W
Walter Newton	Featherweight	bye	Clausen (DEN) L	did not advance			9
Georges Prud'Homme	Middleweight	bye	Masson (BEL) W	Rey-Golliet (FRA) W	Strømme (NOR) W	Mallin (GBR) L
William Rankin	Featherweight	Hesterman (NED) L	did not advance				16
Bert Schneider	Welterweight	bye	Thomas (RSA) W	Steen (NOR) W	Colberg (USA) W	Ireland (GBR) W
Harry Turner	Flyweight	N/A	Rampignon (FRA) L	did not advance			9

Opponent nation Wins Losses Percent   Belgium 2 0 1.000   Denmark 1 2 .333   France 2 1 .667   Great Britain 1 2 .333   Netherlands 1 1 .500   Norway 4 0 1.000   South Africa 3 1 .750   United States 1 0 1.000 Total 15 7 .682

Round Wins Losses Percent Round of 32 0 1 .000 Round of 16 4 2 .667 Quarterfinals 5 0 1.000 Semifinals 3 2 .600 Final 1 2 .333 Bronze match 2 0 1.000 Total 15 7 .682

Cycling

Main article: Cycling at the 1920 Summer Olympics

Five cyclists represented Canada in 1920. It was the nation's third appearance in the sport. Macdonald's fifth-place finish in the 50 kilometres was the best result of the Games for the Canadian cyclists.

Road cycling

Cyclist	Event	Final
		Result	Rank
Harold Bounsell	Time trial	did not finish
Harry Martin	Time trial	5:30:16.2	38
Herbert Macdonald	Time trial	5:20:34.6	31
Norman Webster	Time trial	did not finish
Harold Bounsell Harry Martin Herbert Macdonald Norman Webster	Team time trial	did not finish

Track cycling

Ranks given are within the heat.

Cyclist	Event	Heats		Quarterfinals		Repechage semis		Repechage final		Semifinals		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Harold Bounsell	Sprint	unknown	2 Q	unknown	2 R	13.4	1 Q	unknown	2	did not advance
	50 km	N/A										did not finish
Herbert Macdonald	Sprint	unknown	4	did not advance
	50 km	N/A										unknown	5
William Taylor	Sprint	unknown	3	did not advance
	50 km	N/A										did not finish
Norman Webster	Sprint	unknown	2 Q	unknown	3 R	unknown	3	did not advance
	50 km	N/A										did not finish
Harold Bounsell Herbert Macdonald William Taylor Norman Webster	Team pursuit	N/A		unknown	2	N/A				did not advance

Ice hockey

Main article: Ice hockey at the 1920 Summer Olympics

 

Hewitt and the Winnipeg Falcons at the 1920 Summer Olympics

The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) chose the Winnipeg Falcons as the 1920 Allan Cup champions to represent the Canada men's national team in ice hockey at the 1920 Summer Olympics, instead of forming a national all-star team on short notice.^[6][7] W. A. Hewitt represented the Canadian Olympic Committee and oversaw finances for the Falcons, and reported on the Olympic Games for Canadian newspapers.^[8][9] He and his wife were a father and mother figure to the Falcons,^[10] and sailed with them aboard SS Melita from Saint John to Liverpool, then onto Antwerp.^[11]

Hewitt introduced the CAHA rules of play to the Ligue Internationale de Hockey sur Glace (LIHG) at the Olympics.^[12] Writer Andrew Podnieks described Hewitt's interpretation of the rules as "competitive yet gentlemanly", and that the rules of play were accepted for Olympic hockey.^[13] Hewitt refereed the first Olympic hockey game played, an 8–0 win by the Sweden men's national team versus the Belgium men's national team, on April 23, 1920.^[14] The Falcons and the Hewitts returned home aboard SS Grampian from Le Havre to Quebec City.^[15] The Falcons honoured Hewitt and his wife at a private dinner and presented them with a silver cup inscribed with the number 13, for the number of people who made the trip to the Olympics and the team's lucky number.^[7][16]

Roster

Coach:   Guðmundur Sigurjónsson

Pos	Player	GP	G	Birthdate	Age
D	Bobby Benson	3	1	May 18, 1894	25
G	Wally Byron	3	0	September 2, 1884	35
F	Frank Fredrickson	3	12	July 11, 189	24
R	Chris Fridfinnson	1	1	June 14, 1898	21
F	Mike Goodman	3	3	March 18, 1898	22
F	Haldor Halderson	3	9	January 6, 1900	20
D	Konnie Johannesson	3	2	August 10, 1896	23
R	Huck Woodman	2	1	March 11, 1899	21

Gold medal quarterfinals

24 April 1920 21:30

Canada

15 – 0 (7–0, 8–0)

Czechoslovakia

Palais de Glace d'Anvers

Game reference
	Walter Byron	Goalies	Jan Peka
	Halderson (7) Fredrickson (4) Goodman (2) Woodman Johannesson Goals
	0 min	Penalties	0 min

Gold medal semifinals

25 April 1920 21:00

Canada

2 – 0 (0–0, 2–0)

United States

Palais de Glace d'Anvers

Game reference
	Walter Byron	Goalies	Ray Bonney	Referee:   Alfred de Rauch
	Fredrickson 1 – 0 Johannesson 2 – 0
	7 min	Penalties	5 min

Gold medal game

26 April 1920 22:00

Canada

12 – 1 (5–1, 7–0)

Sweden

Palais de Glace d'Anvers

Game reference
	Walter Byron	Goalies	Seth Howander	Referee:   Joseph McCormick
	Halderson – 1:15 1 – 0 Fridfinnson − 1:55 2 – 0 Fredrickson – 5:20 3 – 0 3 – 1 15:58 – Svensson Fredrickson – 16:00 4 – 1 Fredrickson – 17:35 5 – 1 Goodman – 23:47 6 – 1 Benson – 28:09 7 – 1 Fredrickson – 29:15 8 – 1 Fredrickson – 29:30 9 – 1 Fredrickson – 34:55 10 – 1 Halderson – 36:20 11 – 1 Fredrickson – 39:02 12 – 1
	0 min	Penalties	0 min

Final rank

  Gold

Rowing

Main article: Rowing at the 1920 Summer Olympics

Five rowers represented Canada in 1920. It was the nation's fourth straight appearance in the sport. Canada sent one boat, in the coxed fours. It was unable to advance past the semifinals, taking third place in the three-boat heat.

Ranks given are within the heat.

Rower	Cox	Event	Quarterfinals		Semifinals		Final
			Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Harold Harcourt Robert Hay Strathy Hay Larry Landreau	Art Everett	Coxed four	N/A		7:18.0	3	did not advance

Shooting

Main article: Shooting at the 1920 Summer Olympics

Seven shooters represented Canada in 1920. It was the nation's third appearance in the sport. For the second straight Games, the Canadian shooters were unable to earn any medals.

Shooter	Event	Final
		Result	Rank
George Beattie	Trap	73	5
John Black	Trap	52	unknown
William Hamilton	Trap	82	11
Robert Montgomery	Trap	86	6
Samuel Vance	Trap	71	unknown
George Beattie William Hamilton William McLaren Robert Montgomery True Oliver Samuel Vance	Team clay pigeons	474	5

Wrestling

Main article: Wrestling at the 1920 Summer Olympics

A single wrestler competed for Canada in 1920. It was the nation's second appearance in the sport.

Freestyle

Wrestler	Event	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Finals / Bronze match	Rank
Frank Locon	Freestyle middle	Johnson (USA) (L)	did not advance				17

Opponent nation Wins Losses Percent   United States 0 1 .000 Total 0 1 .000

Round Wins Losses Percent Round of 32 0 1 .000 Round of 16 0 0 – Quarterfinals 0 0 – Semifinals 0 0 – Final 0 0 – Bronze match 0 0 – Total 0 1 .000

References

1. . sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
2. "Olympic Boxers Chosen To Represent Canada". The Kingston Whig-Standard. Kingston, Ontario. 24 July 1920. p. 10. from the original on 13 May 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2022. 
3. Sullivan, Jack (8 December 1953). "After 60 Years In Sport: 500 Sportsmen To Honor William "Billy" Hewitt". Winnipeg Free Press. Winnipeg, Manitoba. p. 19. from the original on 22 March 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2022. ; Sullivan, Jack (8 December 1953). "Sportsmen Honour W. A. (Billy) Hewitt at Dinner Tonight". The Kingston Whig-Standard. Kingston, Ontario. The Canadian Press. p. 11. from the original on 13 May 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2022. 
4. "Olympic Trials for Winnipeg on 10th of July". The Winnipeg Tribune. Winnipeg, Manitoba. 14 April 1920. p. 14. from the original on 13 May 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2022. ; "Canadian Team to Sail on July 24". The Kingston Whig-Standard. Kingston, Ontario. 17 April 1920. p. 16. from the original on 7 March 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2022. 
5. . Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
6. Podnieks, Andrew (1997), p. 2
7. Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2005), pp. 28–29
8. "With the Falcons". Saskatoon Daily Star. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. 6 April 1920. p. 6. from the original on 13 May 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2022. 
9. "Billy Hewitt To Provide News of Falcons' Trip". Winnipeg Free Press. Winnipeg, Manitoba. 6 April 1920. p. 14. from the original on 13 May 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2022. 
10. Metcalfe, William (13 February 1932). "Olympic Title First Won by Falcons: Achievement of Local Team Was Outstanding One". Winnipeg Free Press. Winnipeg, Manitoba. p. 19. from the original on 13 May 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2022. ; Metcalfe, William (13 February 1932). "Achievement of Local Team Was Outstanding One (Continued from Page 19)". Winnipeg Free Press. Winnipeg, Manitoba. p. 22. from the original on 22 March 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2022. 
11. Podnieks, Andrew (1997), p. 2
12. "Pro Officials Like Own Interpretation Of Rules". Winnipeg Free Press. Winnipeg, Manitoba. 7 December 1957. p. 43. from the original on 16 April 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2022. 
13. Podnieks, Andrew (1997), p. 4
14. "IIHF Honour Roll: W. A. Hewitt". Legends of Hockey. Hockey Hall of Fame. 2013. from the original on 13 May 2022. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
15. Podnieks, Andrew (1997), pp. 6–7
16. "Falcons Honour Billy Hewitt". The Winnipeg Tribune. Winnipeg, Manitoba. 21 May 1920. p. 18. from the original on 12 May 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2022. 

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Sources

• Podnieks, Andrew (1997). Canada's Olympic Hockey Teams: The Complete History 1920–1998. Toronto, Ontario: Doubleday Canada. ISBN 0-385-25688-4.
• Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2005). Silverware. Toronto, Ontario: Fenn Publishing. ISBN 1-55168-296-6.
• Belgium Olympic Committee (1957). Olympic Games Antwerp 1920: Official Report (in French).

External links

• Wudarski, Pawel (1999). (in Polish). Archived from the original on 16 February 2009. Retrieved 26 August 2007.