Cecil Smith (figure skater)

Cecil Smith
Cecil Smith
	Smith in 1938
Full name	Cecil Elaine Eustace Smith
Born	September 14, 1908; Toronto, Canada
Died	November 9, 1997 (aged 89)
Figure skating career
Country	Canada
Partner	Melville Rogers ; Stewart Reburn (former)
Skating club	Toronto Skating Club
Medal record
Representing Canada
Figure skating
World Championships
North American Championships

Cecil Elaine Eustace Smith, later Gooderham, then Hedstrom (September 14, 1908 – November 9, 1997), was a Canadian figure skater. In 1924 she became the first female figure skater to represent Canada at Winter Olympics;^[3] she placed sixth individually and seventh in pairs, together with Melville Rogers. At the 1928 Winter Olympics she finished fifth individually. In 1930, she won the silver medal at the World Figure Skating Championships in singles.

Biography

In 1922, Smith won the national junior title, and next year was a runner-up as a senior. Aged 15, she participated in the 1924 Winter Olympic Games, held in Chamonix, France.^[4] In the women's singles, she finished sixth, two places ahead of Sonja Henie. In the pairs competition, she placed seventh.^[1]

Smith won the Canadian championship in 1925 and 1926. In 1928, she competed in her second Olympics and place fifth in the women's singles (Sonja Henie claimed the gold). In 1930, she became the first Canadian to win a World championship figure skating medal, earning a silver medal in New York City.^[4] In 1991 she was inducted into the Skate Canada Hall of Fame.^[5]

Smith changed her last name twice, first to Gooderham, then to Hedstrom. Around 1935 she gave birth to a son named Edward Douglas Gooderham.^[2] She had an elder sister Maude, who also competed at the 1928 Olympics, but in pairs. Their mother, Maude Delano-Osborne, won the 1892 Canadian tennis championship.^[4]

Competitive highlights

Ladies' singles

Event	1923	1924	1925	1926	1927	1928	1929	1930	1931	1933
Winter Olympics		6th				5th
World Championships								2nd
North American Championships			2nd		3rd					2nd
Canadian Championships	2nd		1st	1st	2nd		2nd		2nd	2nd

Pairs

(with Rogers)

Event	1923	1924
Winter Olympics		7th
Canadian Championships	3rd

(with Reburn)

Event	1931
Canadian Championships	3rd

References

^ ^a ^b Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Cecil Smith". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020.
^ ^a ^b Cecil Smith's obituary in Old Times, Summer 2000. Upper Canada College (1997)
^ "First female competitors at the Olympics by country". Olympedia. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c M. Ann Hall (2008) Immodest and Sensational: 150 Years of Canadian Women in Sport. James Lorimer & Company Ltd., Toronto. pp. 33–34. ISBN 978-1-55277-021-4
^ 1991 Canadian Figure Skating Hall of Fame Induction. Skate Canada Hall of Fame

[sr-1] Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Cecil Smith". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020.

[obit-2] Cecil Smith's obituary in Old Times, Summer 2000. Upper Canada College (1997)

[3] "First female competitors at the Olympics by country". Olympedia. Retrieved June 26, 2020.

[p33-4] M. Ann Hall (2008) Immodest and Sensational: 150 Years of Canadian Women in Sport. James Lorimer & Company Ltd., Toronto. pp. 33–34. ISBN 978-1-55277-021-4

[5] 1991 Canadian Figure Skating Hall of Fame Induction. Skate Canada Hall of Fame

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