Harry Jerome

Harry Jerome

Personal information
Birth name	Henry Winston Jerome
Born	(1940-09-30)September 30, 1940 Prince Albert, Saskatchewan
Died	December 7, 1982(1982-12-07) (aged 42)
Sport
Sport	Track and field
Medal record Men's Athletics Representing  Canada Olympic Games 1964 Tokyo 100 metres Pan American Games 1967 Winnipeg 100 metres Commonwealth Games 1966 Kingston 100 yards Universiade 1965 Budapest 100 metres

Henry "Harry" Winston Jerome, OC (September 30, 1940 – December 7, 1982) was a Canadian track and field runner. He was the grandson of John Howard, a railway porter who represented Canada in the 1912 Summer Olympics.

Born in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, he moved to North Vancouver at age 12. In 1970 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. Harry Jerome died of a brain aneurysm in December 1982, at the age of 42. His sister, Valerie Jerome, was also an Olympian who competed for Canada at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome.^[1]

In 2001, he was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame.

Athletic career

He competed at the university level for Bill Bowerman at the University of Oregon. He competed for Canada in the 1960, 1964, and 1968 Summer Olympics, winning 100 metre bronze in 1964. Such were the Olympics, Jerome wore his University of Oregon sweats (rather than the contemporary practice of an official national outfit for all Olympic appearances) to warm up for the Olympic 100 metres in Tokyo. He also won the gold in the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games and the 1967 Pan American Games. During his career, Jerome set a total seven world records, including tying the 100 metres in 10.2, 10.1 and finally 10.0 seconds in 1960, tying a record established a month earlier by Germany's Armin Hary. Later he set the world record for the 100 yard dash at 9.2, making Jerome one of the few athletes to own both the 100 yard and 100 meter world record simultaneously. He was a member of the University of Oregon 4 × 100 m relay team that tied the world record of 40.0 seconds in 1962. In 1966 he again tied a world record with a 9.1 time in the 100 yard. From 1963 to 1966 he held or equaled 4 world records concurrently.^[2] He continued to sprint successfully until the late 1960s, despite suffering an injury so severe at the Perth Commonwealth Games in 1962 that doctors initially believed he would never walk again.

Post-athletic career

Jerome earned a master's degree in physical education (University of Oregon). After retiring from athletics in 1969, he was invited by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau to help create Canada's new Ministry of Sport. Jerome held a number of senior positions in the ministry but resigned over the government's cancellation of a large-scale public-private partnership he had negotiated with Kellogg's to promote youth participation in athletics. During the 1980s Jerome headed the Premier's Sport Award program in British Columbia, Canada.

Tributes

Statue of Harry Jerome in Stanley Park, Vancouver, Canada

In 1984, the Labatts International Track Classic Pre-Olympic meet was renamed the Harry Jerome International Track Classic. It has become a prestigious track and field meet held annually at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby, British Columbia - is named in Jerome's honour. The Harry Jerome Sports Complex in North Vancouver, a block from North Vancouver High School where he first went out for track in 1958 and the Harry Jerome Sports Centre, home to the Burnaby Velodrome, in Burnaby, British Columbia is named after Jerome, as are the weight room at his Alma Mater the University of Oregon and the track and field stadium in Prince Albert. The Stanley Park sea wall in his native Vancouver is graced with a 9-foot bronze statue of him. The annual Harry Jerome Awards, the national awards dinner for Canada's black community organized by the Black Business and Professionals Association (BBPA), is named after him. He was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1970, and inducted to the Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1971. In 2001 he was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame, and in 2010 was named a Person of National Historical Significance (to be eligible, with the exception of Canadian Prime Ministers, the nominee must be deceased a minimum of 25 years).

Works about Jerome

Production began in April 2009 on a feature-length biographical documentary about Harry Jerome, entitled Mighty Jerome. Directed by Charles Officer and produced by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) in Vancouver, the film was inspired by Fil Fraser’s book on Jerome, entitled Running Uphill.^[3][4]

NFB producer Selwyn Jacob had approached Officer — along with four other directors— in 2007 with idea of making a documentary about Jerome. Officer's proposal was selected by Jacob and the NFB, despite the fact that he had never directed a documentary before.^[5]

This black and white film uses archival footage, interviews and dramatizations to explore the life and career of the Canadian track legend. Officer recreated museum installations in Toronto, Edmonton and Vancouver to interview Jerome's contemporaries and family members. His sister Valerie refused to participate in the film, however, due to objections over his portrayal in Fraser’s book. The film features a score by Schaun Tozer. The film premiered at the Vancouver International Film Festival on October 8, 2010.^[5][6][7][8]

Achievements

• 1960 World Record 100 m: 10.0 (tied record of Armin Hary)
• 1960 Olympic Games 100 m Canadian team member
• 1961 World Record 100 yds: 9.3
• 1962 World Record 100 yds: 9.2
• 1963 World Record 60 yds Indoor: 6.0
• 1964 Summer Olympics 100 m: 3rd 10.2 / 200 m: 4th 20.7
• 1966 World Record 100 yds: 9.1
• 1966 Commonwealth Games 100 yds: 1st 9.4
• 1967 Pan American Games 100 m 1st 10.2
• 1968 Summer Olympics 100 m: 7th 10.2

References

• "Harry Winston Jerome". Canada's Walk of Fame. Archived from the original on August 26, 2006. Retrieved July 13, 2006. 

External links

• Harry Jerome International Track Classic
• Mighty Jerome at the National Film Board of Canada (Requires Adobe Flash)
• Harry Jerome on Find-A-Grave
• University of Oregon