Winners: Aileen Meagher, Athletics

1935 - Feature Story

Halifax-born Aileen Meagher didn’t begin her running career until she tried out for the Dalhousie University track team in 1928. Two years later, she was the Canadian record holder over 100 and 220 yards and emerged as a promising sprint star, although her opportunity to compete in the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles was thwarted due to injury. The Nova Scotia schoolteacher was clearly an international force, winning a Silver medal in the women’s 220-yard sprint and 440-yard relay and a Gold medal in the 660-yard relay at the 1934 British Empire Games in London. So it was that in 1935, Meagher, known as “Canada’s Flying Schoolmarm”, was honoured as Canada’s top female athlete after winning the 100m and 200m at the Women’s Dominion Track and Field Championships in Montreal. A year later, Meagher would earn a Bronze medal in the women’s 4x100m relay at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin.

Career Highlights

• 1964 Original inducted member of the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame
• 1938 Silver medal in the 3x110/220 yard relay and Bronze medal in the 4x110/220 yard relay at the British Empire Games in Sydney, Australia
• 1936 Bronze medal in the 4x100m relay at the Olympic Games in Berlin
• 1935 Bobbie Rosenfeld Award (Canada’s female athlete of the year)
• 1934 Gold medal in the 4x110/220 yard relay and Silver medals in the 3x110/220 yard relay and in the 220 yard event at the British Empire Games in London, England