Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame – Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame mourns the loss of Honoured Member Jocelyn Lovell, inducted in 1985. At the 1978 Commonwealth Games, he won three gold medals, all in Games-record times, becoming the first man to achieve such a feat and continued to compete as one of Canada’s top-ranked cyclists into the 1980s. Left a quadraplegic following a career ending accident in 1983, Jocelyn continued to advocate for research into spinal cord injuries. Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame’s mission is to share the stories of its Honoured Members so that their legacy is never forgotten.The Canadian flag at Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame, located at WinSport’s Canada Olympic Park, will fly at half-mast in honour of Jocelyn Lovell.

“Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame is deeply saddened by the death of one of our inducted Honoured Members, Jocelyn Lovell, a three-time Olympian and an inspiring cyclist. Jocelyn received the highest sporting honour in Canada when he was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1985, as an Athlete for Cycling. His legacy will live on for generations to come,” said Mario Siciliano, President & C.E.O. of Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame.

 Click here for a PDF of the media release.

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Jocelyn Lovell Bio

Colourful and controversial were the adjectives most often applied to Jocelyn Lovell as he dominated Canadian cycling during the 1970s. To those attributes, which were no less evident after his athletic career was tragically cut short, were added defiance and perseverance. Born in England, Lovell came to Canada when he was three years old. At age 15, as a junior, he won the first of what would be more than 35 national cycling championships. He made the 1968 Olympic team for Mexico City while still a teenager and finished a respectable seventh in the 1,000m time trial. But it was in 1970 that Lovell made his mark on the international stage. His victory in the 10-mile scratch race at the 1970 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh made him the first Canadian in 32 years to win a cycling gold. He added silver and bronze medals at those Games. Lovell dominated the 1,000m time trial throughout the 1970s, winning gold at both the 1971 and 1975 Pan-American Games and in the process setting a record for the distance that would stand for 28 years. His more controversial side emerged in 1974, a year where he came within one event of winning every race at the Canadian championships, when what he called a “prank” resulted in his suspension from the that year’s Commonwealth Games. His successes, however, led to the 1975 Norton H. Crow award as Canada’s top male amateur athlete. Lovell competed at two more Olympic Games, though injuries prevented him from duplicating his Commonwealth and Pan-Am Games successes at Munich in 1972 and Montreal in 1976. Two years later, Lovell set out to achieve international success on home soil. At the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton he won three gold medals, all in Games-record times, becoming the first man to achieve such a feat. Later the same year he claimed a silver medal at the world championships in Munich. Lovell continued to compete as one of Canada’s top-ranked cyclists into the 1980s. It was while training, on August 4, 1983, that his career came to a tragic end and his life took a dramatic turn. Run over by a dump truck and dragged 100 feet, Lovell’s spinal cord injuries left him a quadriplegic. Demonstrating the same fierce competitiveness and combativeness that characterized his cycling career, he has taken a leadership role advocating research into spinal cord injuries. 

ABOUT CANADA’S SPORTS HALL OF FAME

Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame is an international award-winning facility with over 40,000 square feet of inspiring experiences. Located at WinSport’s Canada Olympic Park (COP), site of the 1988 Olympic Winter Games in Calgary, Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame features 12 galleries, 52 hands-on interactive experiences and a collection of 100,000 artefacts. It is a place of honour for the 605 inducted sport legends and the 65 sports they represent. Our mission is to share the stories of the achievements of our Honoured Members so that we can inspire all Canadians to be the best they can be in all aspects of life. Please visit www.sportshall.ca to learn more about Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame.

*Please note that the official name is Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame, not the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame.

Marnie Krell

Manager, Marketing & Communications

O: 403.776.1086

mkrell@cshof.ca