Читать книгу Toronto Sketches 12 - Mike Filey - Страница 15

August 12, 2012

When the young ladies from Canada won the bronze medal for soccer last Thursday, they accomplished something that hadn’t been done since 1904. It was 108 years ago, during the games held in St. Louis, Missouri, that the men’s soccer team from Galt, Ontario (since 1973, Galt, Preston, and Hespeler have been part of the newly created City of Cambridge) won a medal in soccer, defeating the team from the United States — a stunning victory that resulted in a gold medal. That year saw Canadians win a total of six Olympic medals: four gold along with one silver and one bronze.

Interestingly, the other three of the four gold medals won by Canadians in 1904 were for the 56-pound throw, lacrosse, and golf) — none of which continue to be recognized as Olympic sports. For the record, the successful Canadian medal winners were, respectively, Montreal police officer Etienne Desmarteau, the Shamrock Lacrosse Team from Winnipeg, and from right here in Toronto our very own George Lyon. Seems as if every time a Canadian won a medal back then someone decided to remove the corresponding event from the list of eligible Olympic sports. And that Norwegian referee hadn’t even been born yet.

But I digress … George Seymour Lyon was born in Richmond, Ontario (now, albeit reluctantly, part of the City of Ottawa) in 1858. As a young man he moved to Toronto and entered the life insurance business, eventually opening his own investment firm. George was an outstanding athlete in just about anything he tried his hand (or feet) at. He was especially skilled at cricket and track and field.

One day on the way home from a cricket match, George, now thirty-eight years of age, stopped by the Rosedale Golf Club (which was still located in the north end of the prestigious Rosedale neighbourhood) to watch a friend swinging away at a golf ball, something George had never even attempted. The friend persuaded George to give it a try, and after just a few swings George was hooked. In fact, he became so good at the game that over the next sixteen years the once reluctant golfer had won the Canadian amateur golf title a total of eight times. He accumulated many other titles as well and was soon identified as Canada’s premier golfer.

On September 14, 1904, it was announced that the “tournament for the golf championship of the world” would be held as part of the Games of the III Olympiad and that the event would be held September 19–24 at St. Louis, Missouri’s Glen Echo Country Club. Appended to the announcement were the names of more than fifty participants, including three players from Toronto’s newly established Lambton Golf and Country Club. They were brothers A.E. and Bertie Austin and club captain George S. Lyon.

The concluding match of the tournament was held on September 24 and featured our George going up against American champion Chandler Egan. When the dust had settled Lyon was declared the greatest golfer in the world and awarded the gold medal.

Four years later Lyon had the opportunity of defending his title at the 1908 Olympics in London, England. However, when it was determined that no one was ready to challenge him, golf was abruptly removed from the list of Olympic events. Golf hasn’t been part of the Summer Olympics since. However, it’s being reinstated for the Rio de Janeiro games in 2016. And guess what, Toronto’s George Lyon will remain as the Olympic gold medal title holder.

Unfortunately, he won’t be there. George died in 1938 and now rests under one of the greens in our beautiful Mount Pleasant Cemetery.

Torontonian George Lyon was the last person to win the Olympic gold medal for golf. The year was 1904, and since it was never played at the Olympics again, George remains undefeated.

George Lyon died on May 11, 1938, at his Toronto residence on Garfield Avenue. Several years ago his monument in Mount Pleasant Cemetery was badly damaged, but thanks to some anonymous “fan” has since been nicely restored.