- Harold Wright was born this day in 1908.
The track athlete competed for Canada in the 1932 Summer
Olympics, reaching the semi-final in the 100m and 200m track
sprints. He was president of the Canadian Olympic Association
in the 1970s and served on the organizing committee of the
1976
Montreal Summer Olympics. In 1970 helped
found the trust fund to help Canada's Olympic athletes.
- Track star Mark McKoy was born on this day
in Guyana in 1961. McKoy moved to Toronto as a young man. In
1981 he won the first of eight consecutive national
championships in the 110 m hurdles. He finished fourth at the
Los Angeles Olympics in 1984. In 1988 he finished seventh at
the Seoul Olympics, but left abruptly after Ben Johnson's
positive drug test, refusing to participate in the relay. He
received a two-year suspension. He testified at Dubin Inquiry
that he had briefly experimented with steroids. He returned to
competition and in 1991, and in 1992 won gold medal in the 110
m
hurdles at the Barcelona Olympics. It was the
first track and field gold for Canada in 60 years.
- NHL defenceman Rob Blake was born on this
day at Simcoe in 1969.
- On this day in 1984, the Montreal Expos
traded Gary Carter to the New York Mets.
- On this day in 1810, the first interracial,
title boxing bout was staged at Copthall Common in England. An
American, Tom Molineaux, lost to Tom Cribb on a fluke punch.
The fight went 40 rounds.
