Biography & Autobiography Sports
The Greatest Athlete (You've Never Heard Of)
Canada's First Olympic Gold Medallist
- Publisher
- Dundurn Press
- Initial publish date
- Feb 2019
- Category
- Sports, Running & Jogging, Olympics
-
Paperback / softback
- ISBN
- 9781459743359
- Publish Date
- Feb 2019
- List Price
- $21.99
-
eBook
- ISBN
- 9781459743373
- Publish Date
- Feb 2019
- List Price
- $10.99
Classroom Resources
Where to buy it
Description
Canada's first Olympic gold medallist couldn't walk until he was ten, and became the greatest runner of his generation.
Who was the first Canadian to Win an Olympic Gold Medal? When Mark Hebscher was asked this simple trivia question, he had no idea that it would lead him on a two year odyssey, researching a man he had never heard of.
Paralyzed as a child and told he would never walk again, George Washington Orton persevered, eventually becoming the greatest distance runner of his generation, a world-class hockey player, and a brilliant scholar. A sports pioneer, Orton came up with the idea of numbered football jerseys and introduced ice hockey to Philadelphia. Orton's 1900 Paris Olympic medals were credited to the United States for seven decades before the mistake was uncovered and rectified. Yet he is virtually unknown in Canada. Finally, his story is being told.
About the authors
Mark Hebscher is a long-time broadcaster and journalist, best known for his work on the ground-breaking TV show Sportsline on Global Television. Mark has interviewed thousands of people from the world of sports, entertainment, business, and politics. He lives in Toronto.
RON MACLEAN, host of CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada for 28 years, began his broadcasting career in 1978 as an all-night DJ in Red Deer, Alberta. In 1984, he moved to Calgary to host Calgary Flames telecasts. MacLean joined CBC in 1986, where he hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs’ telecasts on HNIC, before becoming the full-time national host, and popular co-host of "Coach’s Corner" with Don Cherry in 1987. He has also hosted CBC’s coverage of the Olympic and Commonwealth Games, the World Cup of Hockey, the Calgary Stampede and Battle of the Blades. MacLean has been recognized with ten Gemini Awards for excellence on television. The co-author of the bestseller Cornered, he lives with his his wife, Cari, in Oakville, Ontario. Follow him on Twitter @RonMacLeanCBC and @hometownhockey_.
KIRSTIE MCLELLAN DAY ranks among the top hockey book writers in the world thanks to the three national bestsellers: Theo Fleury’s #1 bestselling memoir Playing with Fire, Bob Probert’s Tough Guy and Ron MacLean’s Cornered. She's currently working with Marty McSorley on his upcoming Hellbent. Her other books include Above and Beyond, a comprehensive family and business history of cable magnate J.R. Shaw; Under the Mat, a memoir with Diana Hart of the Hart wrestling family; and No Remorse, a true-crime novel. Kirstie is a mother of five and lives with her husband, television producer Larry Day, in Calgary. Together they own one of Canada’s most successful television companies, Pyramid Productions. Visit her online at www.kirstiemclellanday.com and follow her on Twitter @kmclellanday.
Excerpt: The Greatest Athlete (You've Never Heard Of): Canada's First Olympic Gold Medallist (by (author) Mark Hebscher; foreword by Ron MacLean)
Chapter 1: The Biggest Race of His Life
“It is not the size nor build nor physique nor qualities of inherited ancestry that determines a track and field champion. The boy of slender build and of apparent constitutional weakness may turn out to be another George Orton, invincible in the distance runs.” — Donald W. Hendrickson, 1909
Imagine you are three years old. You love to run and jump and play with your friends. But the doctor has just told your parents that you may never be able to walk or use your right arm again because of a terrible accident. You lie in bed, paralyzed, while your friends play outside. You dream of someday running again. Fast. Faster than all your friends. Faster than everyone in the world.
On a brutally hot July afternoon in Paris, a slender, curly-haired man with a shrunken arm is running in the Olympic 2,500-metre steeplechase. He had predicted in the newspaper that he would win the gold medal in this event, but he is in fourth place, and victory seems unlikely. The year is 1900. George Washington Orton is the most decorated distance runner in the world, having won over 120 championships in the United States, Canada, England, France, Belgium, Holland, and Germany. At age 20, he had earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Toronto. When he was 23, he became one of the youngest to earn a Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania. He looks more like a scholar than a world-class athlete. He is five feet six inches tall and weighs 120 pounds. He squints a lot, like he needs eyeglasses.
A week earlier, the English track and field championships had been held at Stamford Bridge, home of the London Athletic Club. In 1898, Orton won the two-mile steeplechase there, demolishing the field by 80 yards and becoming the first North American to win the coveted title. It took 24 years before an athlete from outside Great Britain won the steeplechase again.
By 1900, Orton was already a racing legend in Great Britain, and large crowds had come to see him and the other North American track and field stars in advance of the Paris Olympics.
But in the windy and damp conditions of Stamford Bridge, it was English champion Sidney Robinson who won the steeplechase that year, with Orton finishing a distant fourth. It was a painful defeat for Orton, who was in rough shape after a gut-wrenching 10-day ocean voyage from America.
He vowed to get better and defeat Robinson and the others at the upcoming Olympics.
Orton had been hired as a special correspondent by the Philadelphia Inquirer under the byline “George Orton — the famous Pennsylvania athlete.” One of his assignments was to provide an insider’s look at the Olympic track and field events and predict the winners of each discipline. He mostly chose North American athletes to win, believing them to be superior to the Europeans. And when it came time to preview the 2,500-metre steeplechase, Orton didn’t beat around the bush. “Orton has more speed than the others,” he wrote, “and, as he is a good jumper, he should win, if in condition.” It was simple and succinct. He predicted victory, but in the third person, as if he were talking about someone else.
But Orton is not in condition on this day. Not even close. He hasn’t been right since leaving America nearly four weeks earlier. Forty-five minutes earlier, he had finished a close third in the 400-metre hurdles, becoming the first Canadian to win an Olympic medal, although he may not have been aware of the significance of that feat at that moment. While his opponents in the steeplechase were resting up for their big event, Orton was hurdling against the world’s best.
The Olympic track and field events that year were contested on the grounds of the Racing Club of France, in the Bois de Boulogne, a huge park located in western Paris that is two and a half times the size of New York’s Central Park. It may have been perfect for picnics, but it was a terrible choice as the venue for the Olympic Games.
As Orton pointed out, “The grounds are very picturesque, but not as well adapted for athletes as they might be.” He was being very kind. The biggest problem was the track itself. There wasn’t one. The French had refused to install a cinder track in their municipal park. There was no way they were going to tear up their beautiful grass for foot racing. Instead, they laid out an irregular-sized 500-metre oval (standard size is 400 metres) on uneven grass. Orton pointed out that the track “leads around beneath the trees” and its condition was so poor that “no less than four sprinters broke down.” The steeplechase course was especially brutal. Jumps consisted of authentic stone walls that couldn’t be moved, thick hedges that were difficult to vault, and imposing water hazards. Even if one could successfully negotiate the water jump, a soaker would await you on the other side. The hurdles for the steeplechase were one metre high and fashioned from 30-foot-long telephone poles that had been stripped. None of the obstacles could be knocked down, unlike those in the hurdles events, which would fall fairly easily upon contact.
Conditions for the field events were hardly better. The last few yards of the running broad jump approach featured a six-inch incline. There were reports of some jumpers having to dig their own pits. As well, the venue was not spectator friendly. The Bois de Boulogne was at least a mile from any tramway and far from the nearest railroad station. “This inaccessibility affected the attendance greatly, which was disappointing considering the caliber of the runners and the importance of the events,” wrote Orton.
Gaining a good view of the track was another issue. Most spectators had their sightlines obstructed by a large grove of trees that made up the far end of the race course. Those who were fortunate enough to have the latest invention — binoculars — had the best view of the action. Orton may have predicted victory in the newspaper, but he confessed two weeks later that he was anything but confident the day of the Olympic 2,500-metre steeplechase.
Editorial Reviews
I liked that you mixed in other sports, like Jack Dempsey boxing and Man O’War and horse racing. That Orton was some kind of guy. Too bad he didn't spend more time in Canada or we'd all know about him. Great story, though.
Don Cherry, Hockey Night in Canada
A fascinating book about an extraordinary sporting figure that darts through history while bleeding with the passions of the author. Intimate despite the distance of a forgotten age, and personal in the investment Hebsy makes to pursue Orton’s ghost.
Dave Bidini, author of Midnight Light and publisher of the West End Phoenix
Chasing ghosts is a mug's game. Moreso when the ghost is a world-class turn-of-the-century runner. But Mark Hebscher is dogged, tracking down the bizarrely under-told story of Canadian athletic legend George Orton, a steeplechase phenom who knew something about pace. As does author Hebscher. His book is a commendable yarn and a race to the finish.
Brad Wheeler, arts writer, the Globe and Mail
The best historians must also be good detectives. Mark Hebscher proves here that he's both, casting aside Canadian modesty to celebrate the somehow-obscure story of an Ontario kid who went on to change the face of sports around the world. Hebscher does so in the same conversational way that made him a beloved broadcasting legend; you can hear the incredulity in his voice leap off the page as he unspools this inspiring tale that has been neglected in the annals of sports history. This isn't just for jocks, far from it: I don't even like sports, but in the hands of Hebscher, this is a total page-turner.
Michael Barclay, author of The Never-Ending Present: The Story of Gord Downie and the Tragically Hip
There’s a generation that thinks everything that ever happened can be Googled. It can’t. History is hard work. In The Greatest Athlete (You’ve Never Heard Of), a hard-working Mark Hebscher tells the story of George Washington Orton and tells stories about his story – including the story of Canada’s own slow embrace of self-identity and pride in its own.
Jim Slotek, journalist
Always a fount of sports knowledge and trivia, Hebscher sets the record straight on a great Canadian athlete long overlooked or forgotten altogether. An entertaining and informative read. Mark's high-energy personality and unbridled love for sport shine through on every page.
Rob Baker, The Tragically Hip guitarist
Mark Hebscher has brought to life George Washington Orton for all of us to enjoy with his book The Greatest Athlete. Mark's research and writing skills combined with his finding so many historic pictures capture a person and a time that had escaped us. A job well done.
Jerry Howarth, veteran Toronto Blue Jays broadcaster
Due to the limits of the English language, the jacket of this book can't possibly prepare the reader for what I guarantee is a wild ride. George Washington Orton somehow landed in history's dustbin – obscurity doesn't quite capture it. Thank God Mark Hebscher rescued the most unlikely sports story I've read in years.
Gare Joyce, author of The Code and Every Spring A Parade Down Bay Street
Hebsy has written an incredibly detailed and intriguing story of Canadian George Washington Orton. As an Olympian, I always find it fascinating to hear stories of athletes in my sport and see where our training and traditions originated. Washington was the first to introduce the use of a stopwatch to ensure proper pacing – something I use in all my distance training. But his amazing story goes beyond track and field. His work and skill in hockey and soccer, as well as his intellect (fluent in nine languages), are beyond compare. Highly recommended reading for all Canadians and all those interested in sport.
Damian Warner, 2016 Olympic Bronze Decathlon, Pan Am and Commonwealth Games gold-medal decathlete
Kudos to Mark Hebscher for discovering a long-forgotten Canadian hero as the subject of his first book. George Washington Orton was a true Renaissance man – a great athlete, scholar, writer, teacher and many other things – whose story is fascinating. This book is well worth your time.
David Shoalts, sportswriter for the Globe and Mail and author of Hockey Fight in Canada