Vancouver has always had a history of sports.
From early races on the water to today's professional teams, organized sports are a part of Vancouver as much as any other cultural activity.
Given that, there's plenty to explore, so here are five facts you might not know about athletes and sports in Vancouver.
1. The first Black woman to represent Canada in international athletic competition
Barbara Howard was an impressive woman.
At just 17, she was already getting national attention as she tore around tracks around the city. In fact, she even set a British Empire record for the 100-yard dash at the time (neither the British Empire nor the 100-yard dash carries the same weight now as they did then).
That set her up to go to the Commonwealth Games in 1938, before she had graduated from school.
At the games, in Sydney, Australia, Howard caught the eye of local media, both because of her personality and race.
While her individual effort didn't live up to her standards (she finished sixth), she was part of a team that won silver and bronze in relay races.
Unfortunately, she never got to represent Canada again, as the Second World War broke out and put a pause on international athletics during her 20s.
She went on to have a long career as a teacher around Vancouver, retiring in 1984.
There's now a plaza named after her in Vancouver, on the southwest side of the Cambie Bridge, where the Centennial Rocket sits.
2. Harry Jerome held two world records at the same time
The grandson of the first Black athlete to represent Canada at the Olympics, Harry Jerome's athletic career also took him around the world.
Over his career he set seven world records, and they weren't all in the same race.
A specialist in short sprints, he held the record for 100 m and 100 yards at the same time. He's the only person to have done that.
He was also part of a world record relay team and set the record for the 60-yard indoor sprint. He may have held all four at the same time.
Even by today's standards, he was fast. His best 100 m time would have qualified him for the 2024 Olympics, more than 60 years after he ran it.
A statue of Jerome now stands on the seawall in Stanley Park.
3. The Vancouver Canadians have a Babe Ruth ball
If you go to a Vancouver Canadians game, there's a baseball on display in the front lobby area of Nat Bailey Stadium.
It's signed by Babe Ruth.
That's it. That's the fact.
4. The Vancouver Voodoo are in Happy Gilmore
Among the many films shot in Vancouver is the Adam Sandler hit, Happy Gilmore.
Telling the story of an amateur hockey player becoming a golf star, the film opens with Gilmore (Sandler) talking about how he grew up with hockey in his life, thanks to his dad.
In that opening montage, there are some shots of a hockey game; they're given a grainy look so it has more of a home movie look.
That game isn't an NHL game, though, or even ice hockey. It's footage of the Vancouver VooDoo, the city's roller hockey team in the 1990s. The team's logo is clearly visible over the rink.
They only lasted a few seasons, but it just worked out that they were immortalized in the classic 90s comedy.
5. The world's strongest man once hailed from Vancouver
The world's strongest man isn't an official title, but for a while in the early 1950s, Doug Hepburn seemed to have it locked down.
He held a few records and took home a world championship gold medal in 1953. He took another gold at the 1954 Commonwealth Games.
Notably, he was the first person to bench press 400 pounds. Then he was the first for 450...and then 500.
An article about Hepburn from the BC Sports Hall of Fame recounts how unbelievable Hepburn was as an up-and-comer. A letter from the Canadian Amateur Athletics Union in the east disputed official results from a Vancouver meet.
“Impossible. This man could not possibly have lifted 300 lbs. Why, the best in the east does only 220. You have made a mistake,” read the letter.
Another time, after being ignored by the Olympics committee for the 1952 games, he decided to show off and unofficially broke three Canadian records (and one world record) at a demonstration at Kits Pool (they were unofficial because he did it on a Sunday).
He became a hero of sorts in Vancouver, and his gold medal at the 1954 games, which were in Vancouver, was cause for local celebrations. He was named B.C.'s Man of the Year for 1954.
And he did all this having been born with a club foot.
After the games, he decided to go professional. But as a wrestler. Later in life, he also released a Christmas song and wrote poetry, along with running a gym.
