OTTAWA, ON: Hall of Fame pair skater Frances Dafoe passed away at age 86 on Friday evening. Dafoe, a native of Toronto, was a pioneer in pair skating with her partner Norris Bowden. During their career they captured four Canadian titles from 1952-1955, two World titles in 1954 and 1955 and an Olympic silver medal in 1956. They became the first Canadian pair team ever to win a World title in 1954. They were also the Canadian Ice Dance Champions in 1952.

Dafoe has a long list of honours, including becoming a member of the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 1955, entering the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 1958, receiving the Order of Canada in 1991 and being inducted into the Skate Canada Hall of Fame in 1993.

After her competitive career Dafoe remained actively involved in skating. She was an Olympic judge and a successful costume designer. She was a graduate of the famed Parsons School of Design in New York City and went on to design thousands of costumes. She worked for CBC for close to 40 years designing costumes for various shows. She also designed the costumes for the closing ceremonies at the 1988 Olympic Winter Games.

Skate Canada offers its sincere sympathies to Dafoe’s family and friends.

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Skate Canada is the nation’s governing body for competitive figure skating and is dedicated to creating a nation of skaters, both recreationally and competitively. Over 125 years old, Skate Canada is the world’s oldest skating organization and Canada’s preeminent leader in skating instruction and education. Over 130,000 Canadians participate in Skate Canada educational programs each year, including our flagship CanSkate program that teaches beginners of every age the basic skills of skating and fundamental movements.

As one of Canada’s most successful governing sport bodies, Skate Canada athletes have won 25 Olympic medals and 32 world championships. Today’s Canadian world and Olympic medalists all began at one of our 1,200 local Skate Canada clubs or skating schools. Through our programs, more than 5,500 certified professional coaches encourage Canadians of all ages to skate together as a family, pursue competitive ice sports and enjoy an active lifestyle.

Skate Canada has a National Service Centre in Ottawa, marketing headquarters in Toronto and high performance facilities in Toronto and Calgary.

For Information:

Emma Bowie
Communications Manager
+1 (613) 747-1007 ext. 2547
ebowie@skatecanada.ca