Google has honoured one of Canada’s greatest athlete and a famous North Vancouver icon by dedicating a doodle on the 79th birth anniversary of Harry Jerome.
Illustrated by Toronto-based artist Moya Garrison-Msingwana, the doodle depicts the statue of Jerome that stands in Vancouver’s Stanley Park.
The sporting legend was born in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan on September 30, 1940. The family later moved to North Vancouver when Harry Jerome was 12. They were the only black people in the community, according to The Canadian Encyclopedia.
In 1959, as an 18-year-old student at North Vancouver High School, Harry broke the Canadian record for the 220-yard dash that was set 31 years before by Percy Williams.
A three-time Olympian, Jerome set seven world records. He also set the world record for the 100 yard dash at 9.2, making him one of the few athletes to own both the 100 yard and 100 metre world record at the same time, according to a Wikipedia page.
Although a pulled muscle prevented him from running in the finals, Jerome went on to represent Canada at two more Olympic Games, winning the bronze medal in 1964. He also won gold medals in the Pan American Games and Commonwealth Games. Starting in 1960, Jerome would equal or break four world sprinting records over the course of his career.
He won several medals and honours for his sports achievements, including the British Columbia Athlete of the Century and the Order of Canada. His statue was unveiled at Stanley Park in Vancouver in 1988. He was inducted into the Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2001.
Named after him are the Harry Jerome Weight Room at the University of Oregon, Harry Jerome Track in Prince Albert, the Harry Jerome Sports Centre in Burnaby, and the Harry Jerome Recreation Centre in North Vancouver.
Jerome died in 1982 as the result of a seizure at only 42 years of age. He is buried at Mountainview Cemetery in North Vancouver
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