Barbara Ann Scott
Barbara Ann Scott
I am honored to award Barbara Ann Scott the Canadian Athlete of Excellence in Performance Award today, recognizing the most outstanding person to lead many people to figure skating through her athleticism and overall excellence in performance, leading many people to figure skating. Scott was more than just a figure skating champion; she was one of the most sensational sporting celebrities ever to come out of Canada. Her magnificent performance on the ice drew the attention of the world skating community, while her girlish beauty and alluring personality captured the hearts of the public worldwide. She was an international heroine.
Scott got an early start to her career at just age 7, training 7-8 hours a day while being tutored privately. When she was 11, she beat out skaters nearly twice her age to become the youngest junior champion in skating history. She then claimed the senior title in 1944 and the North American championships in 1945. In 1947, her career began to catch the attention of people worldwide as she was the first north American to win the European Figure Skating Championships, and the next year, she won Canada its first Olympic figure skating medal. She was greeted in Ottawa by a crowd of 70,000 fans congratulating her success. For her efforts on ice, she was voted Canada’s top female athlete in 1946, 1947, and 1948 and Canada’s most outstanding athlete in 1945, 1947 and 1948. In 1991 was named an officer of the order of Canada and was inducted into the Canadian Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1991. As a Canadian sports icon and marking the 40th anniversary of her Olympic won, Scott carried the Olympic torch in the 1988 Olympic Games in Calgary, and also in 2009 for the Olympics in Vancouver. In 2012, Ottawa announced the Barbara Ann Scott Gallery that displays much of her life as a figure skater including pictures, information and medals she received. At the age of 25, she retired her figure skating career to get married to Tom
I am honored to award Barbara Ann Scott the Canadian Athlete of Excellence in Performance Award today, recognizing the most outstanding person to lead many people to figure skating through her athleticism and overall excellence in performance, leading many people to figure skating. Scott was more than just a figure skating champion; she was one of the most sensational sporting celebrities ever to come out of Canada. Her magnificent performance on the ice drew the attention of the world skating community, while her girlish beauty and alluring personality captured the hearts of the public worldwide. She was an international heroine.
Scott got an early start to her career at just age 7, training 7-8 hours a day while being tutored privately. When she was 11, she beat out skaters nearly twice her age to become the youngest junior champion in skating history. She then claimed the senior title in 1944 and the North American championships in 1945. In 1947, her career began to catch the attention of people worldwide as she was the first north American to win the European Figure Skating Championships, and the next year, she won Canada its first Olympic figure skating medal. She was greeted in Ottawa by a crowd of 70,000 fans congratulating her success. For her efforts on ice, she was voted Canada’s top female athlete in 1946, 1947, and 1948 and Canada’s most outstanding athlete in 1945, 1947 and 1948. In 1991 was named an officer of the order of Canada and was inducted into the Canadian Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1991. As a Canadian sports icon and marking the 40th anniversary of her Olympic won, Scott carried the Olympic torch in the 1988 Olympic Games in Calgary, and also in 2009 for the Olympics in Vancouver. In 2012, Ottawa announced the Barbara Ann Scott Gallery that displays much of her life as a figure skater including pictures, information and medals she received. At the age of 25, she retired her figure skating career to get married to Tom