Lionel Conacher Award

History of the Lionel Conacher Award

In 1932, the Canadian Press polled the country’s sportswriters for the first time, asking who they considered the country’s best male and female athletes of that year. Golfer C. Ross “Sandy” Somerville was the “overwhelming choice” for top male athlete among Canadian sportswriters and editors, who “called the feat of the silent linksman in winning the United States golf title from an international field in September the outstanding athletic performance by a Canadian.” (Sprinter Hilda Strike was named female athlete of the year.)

Since then, Canadian sportswriters have voted annually for Canada’s top male athlete, with a few exceptions. In 1942, sportswriters decided to discontinue the poll, as “athletes at home could not rate as heroes while young Canadian pilots, paratroopers and corvette gunners fought for freedom in the shadow of death.” (See Second World War.) The poll recommenced in 1946, when football player Joe Krol received the title. In 1950, sportswriters voted for top Canadian male athlete of the half-century, rather than top athlete of the year. Lionel Conacher won that honour by “an overwhelming vote,” ahead of Percy Williams and Harvey Pulford, who tied for second place. There was no poll for male athlete of the year in 1951.

Hockey star Wayne Gretzky received the Lionel Conacher Award a record six times in the 1980s (1980–83, 1985, 1989) and was voted male athlete of the century in 1999. Other multiple winners include baseball player Ferguson Jenkins, with four titles, and three-time winners Steve Nash, Maurice Richard, Mike Weir and Sidney Crosby.

When Did It Become the Lionel Conacher Award?

Between 1932 and 1977, the Canadian Press simply announced the poll winner as Canada’s top male athlete. However, in 1978, they presented the Lionel Conacher Award to swimmer Graham Smith. It was the first time that the winner of the poll received the award.

Lionel Conacher Award Winners