The Guelph Platers were a junior ice hockey team based in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. The team played in the Ontario Hockey League, Ontario Junior Hockey League, and Southern Ontario Junior A Hockey League. They were originally known as the CMC's until 1972, the Biltmore Mad Hatters until 1975, and then took on the name Platers. The Platers were promoted to the Ontario Hockey League in 1982 and moved to Owen Sound in 1989. The franchise played in the Guelph Memorial Gardens.
William Henry Rodgers is an American runner, Olympian, and former record holder in the marathon. Rodgers is best known for his four victories in both the Boston Marathon, including three straight from 1978 to 1980, and 4 straight wins in the New York City Marathon, between 1976 and 1979.
Dale Allen McCourt is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward. He played in the National Hockey League with the Detroit Red Wings, Buffalo Sabres, and Toronto Maple Leafs between 1977 and 1984. He later played with HC Ambrì–Piotta in the Swiss Nationalliga A between 1985 and 1992. He was selected first overall by the Red Wings in the 1977 NHL amateur draft. Internationally McCourt played for the Canadian national team at the 1979 and 1981 World Championships.
The Hamilton Fincups were a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League for 4 years, from 1974 to 1978. The team played in Hamilton, Ontario for three years, and in St. Catharines, Ontario for one. The Hamilton Fincups played home games at the Barton Street Arena, also known as the Hamilton Forum from 1974–1976. The St. Catharines Fincups played in the Garden City Arena in downtown St. Catharines, Ontario in 1976–1977. After moving back to Hamilton, the Fincups played out of the Mountain Arena from 1977–1978.
Anthony Michael Peter Gabriel is a former professional Canadian football pass receiver who played in the Canadian Football League from 1971 to 1981. He played for both the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Ottawa Rough Riders. He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in August 1985. In 2014, he was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame.
In 1930 Hamilton, Ontario, Canada was the site of the very first Commonwealth Games, then known as the British Empire Games. The Games came to Hamilton as a result of the efforts of Melville Marks Robinson, and were Canada's first major international athletic event, and bid unsuccessfully for the Commonwealth Games in 2010, losing out to New Delhi in India. On 7 November 2009, in Guadalajara, Mexico it was announced that Toronto will host the 2015 Pan Am Games after beating out two rival South American cities, Lima, Peru and Bogota, Colombia. The city of Hamilton will be co-hosting the Games with Toronto. Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger said "the Pan Am Games will provide a 'unique opportunity for Hamilton to renew major sport facilities giving Hamiltonians a multi-purpose stadium, a 50-metre swimming pool, and an international-calibre velodrome to enjoy for generations to come.'"
Clancy Edwards is an American retired track and field sprinter. He was considered one of the best sprinters in the world between 1974 and 1978. He won the 200 metres at the 1977 IAAF World Cup, the most important meet of that year, defeating future World Record holder Pietro Mennea.
Christa Vahlensieck is a German former long distance runner and pioneer in the marathon for women. During her running career, from 1973 to 1989, she simultaneously achieved a world record in the 10,000 metres, in the 25k road race and the marathon; she holds 17 German championship titles.
Jack Babashoff Jr. is an American former competition swimmer and a 1976 Olympic silver medal winner in the 100 meter freestyle.
Marta Figueras-Dotti is a retired Spanish professional golfer.
Frances Anne "Francie" Larrieu Smith is an American track and field athlete. She was the flagbearer at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona for the United States of America. Larrieu Smith was the third female American athlete to make five American Olympic teams, behind the six of fencer Jan York-Romary and Track and Field's Willye White. The feat was later equaled by basketball player Teresa Edwards, track and field's Gail Devers, cyclist/speedskater Chris Witty and swimmer Dara Torres. After one of the longest elite careers on record, she retired from that level of competition.
Milan Tiff is an American track and field athlete. He is best known for his triple jumping, but his skills pass through several arenas. He was the bronze medalist in the 1975 Pan American Games. At the Pan Am Games, his name shows the additional name of Abdul Rahman, and in the 1976 Olympic Trials and 1976-1977 National Championships he used the name Caleb Abdul Rahman but he has not gone by that name in other competitions since that period in time. In 1978 he used Milan Tiff in the National Championships. Tiff was an elite black athlete at UCLA at the same time as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, in an era when converting to Islam was happening. He was ranked in the world top ten twice, 1975 and 1977.
Kim Merritt is a former American long-distance runner who competed in the marathon. Her career coincided with the development of women's running in the United States and she was at the forefront of distance running in the mid-1970s.
Garry Brian Bjorklund is an American middle- and long-distance runner. He represented the United States in the 1976 Summer Olympics in the 10,000 meters. As a high schooler, he set a Minnesota state record for the mile run which lasted 39 years. At the University of Minnesota, he won the 1971 national championship in the six-mile run, and won numerous conference championships in various disciplines. Following his 1976 Summer Olympics appearance, Bjorklund became a marathon runner, and set a national age group record in 1980.
The Northern Iowa Panthers wrestling team represents the University of Northern Iowa and competes in the Big 12 Conference. The Panthers are one-time Division I National Champions and four-time National Runners-up. The team is coached by Doug Schwab.
Gordon Singleton was a Canadian world-record holding track cyclist. In 1982, he became the first Canadian cyclist to win a world championship. He was the first, and only, cyclist in history to simultaneously hold world records in all three of track cycling's sprint races: the 200m, 500m and 1000m distances, all in a 24-hour span from October 9–10 in 1980. An Olympic racer, he was deprived of competing in the 1980 Summer Olympics at the peak of his career by Canada's boycott of those games in Moscow. He also competed and won gold medals in the 1978 Edmonton Commonwealth Games, and the 1979 Puerto Rico Pan Am Games for Canada. At the end of 1986, he was named a Companion of the Order of Canada. In his middle-age, he continued to cycle and took part in Master Series races, getting a bronze medal at the Canadian Nationals for his age group in 2014. He was inducted into the Canadian Cycling Hall of Fame in October 2015 along with some of his teammates from the 1970s and 1980s. His hometown of Niagara Falls, Ontario celebrated him many times over his life, including in 2004, as their best athlete in its first 100 years. After his cycling career was over, he took over his father's automotive parts business in Niagara Falls. In 2023, he was diagnosed with Cancer, and died from the disease in March 2024.
Wendy May Clarkson Carter is a Canadian badminton champion who was ranked third in the world in 1978 and also medalled or ranked at Canadian Open, national, Commonwealth Games and Pan Am Games.
James Russell is Canadian basketball player, Olympian and a surgeon. His accomplishments include being the youngest starter for the Canadian men's national basketball team, performing well for Canada in multiple international tournaments, and being named the Canadian university ("CIAU") MVP in 1976. After his basketball career, Russell distinguished himself in the field of general surgery.
Frank Richardson is a retired marathon runner who competed during the 1970s and 1980s. Before entering his first races in the late 1970s, Richardson was 4th at the 1976 NCAA Men's Division III Cross Country Championship and 1st at the 1977 NCAA Division III Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the 10,000 meters. In World Marathon Majors, Richardson was 20th at the 1979 Boston Marathon and did not complete the 1980 Boston event. That year, Richardson won the 1980 Chicago Marathon with a course record time of 2:15:15 and was 10th at the 1980 New York City Marathon. In other events, Richardson won the 1980 USA Marathon Championships and was 9th in the marathon at the 1980 United States Olympic Trials. After ending his marathon career in 1985, Richardson worked at a pharmacy before resuming road racing in 2001.
Dan Cloeter is a retired athlete and current pastor in Osceola, Nebraska. While attending Concordia University Nebraska, Cloeter was forty-eighth at the 1972 Amateur Athletic Union Cross Country Championships and seventh at the 1973 NAIA Men's Cross Country Championship. Between 1973 and 1981, Cloeter competed in American marathons including multiple appearances at the Chicago Marathon. Cloeter won the 1977 event, then known as the Mayor Daley Marathon, and was third in 1978. He won again in 1979, the year the marathon's name was changed to the America's Marathon-Chicago.
