Frank Amyot

Francis "Frank" Amyot (September 14, 1904 – November 21, 1962) was a Canadian sprint canoeist who competed in the 1930s.[2] He won Canada's only gold medal at the 1936 Summer Olympics.

Frank Amyot
Amyot after winning Canadian Canoe race at 1936 Olympics
Personal information
Birth nameFrancis Amyot
NationalityCanadian
Born(1904-09-14)September 14, 1904
Thornhill, Ontario, Canada[1]
DiedNovember 21, 1962(1962-11-21) (aged 58)
Ottawa, Ontario[1]
Height6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight185 lb (84 kg)
Sport
CountryCanada
SportCanoe racing
ClubBritannia Yacht Club
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals1938
Medal record
Olympic medal record
Men's canoe sprint

Competitor for Canada

1936 BerlinC-1 1000 m

Biography

Amyot was born in Thornhill, Ontario. On June 18, 1933 Amyot saved Ottawa Rough Riders Dave Sprague and Eddie Bond from drowning, when their canoe overturned on Lake Deschenes.[3]

Amyot won Canada's only gold medal at the 1936 Summer Olympics in the C-1 1000m canoeing event.[4] This proved embarrassing to Canadian officials who had refused to pay his way. In 1936, Britannia Boating Club raised money for Frank Amyot's Olympic Fund campaign.[5] When he won the 1000 meter championship in the 1936 Olympic Games, Frank Amyot of BYC raced the Canadian canoe, which is different from the type of canoe he had raced in Canadian Canoe Association meets. Although he had seen blueprints, Amyot paddled the Canadian canoe for the first time during the final training stages in Germany.[6] On July 18, 1942, Lieutenant Frank Amyot attended a meeting of 17 Britannia Boating Club members, in army and civilian war jobs during World War II, at Holborn Restaurant in London, England.[7]

When his body was examined by medical personnel during an autopsy, they found cancer all over his body, which they believe is the cause of his death.

Legacy

Amyot was inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 1949 and Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1955.

In 1964, the Britannia Yacht Club presented the Frank Amyot Memorial Trophy awarded to Junior Men C-15 Canoe Kayak Canada Canadian Sprint Canoe Kayak Championships, in loving memory of Frank Amyot, a life member of the club, Olympic Single Blade Singles C-1 Gold Medallist (1936), and distinguished member of Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.[8]

In 2012, the Britannia Yacht Club stairwell featured a display with a photo of Frank Amyot and a collection of his trophies.

Britannia Yacht Club stairwell features photo of Frank Amyot and trophies

References
  1. "Frank Amyot". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 21 November 2015. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  2. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ObQuAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jNoFAAAAIBAJ&dq=britannia-boating-club&pg=1189%2C1407850 Britannia Boating Club paddler Frank Amiot gives Dominion First Win (1000 meter paddling) at Berlin Ottawa Citizen Aug 10, 1936
  3. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ObQuAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jNoFAAAAIBAJ&dq=britannia-boating-club&pg=1189%2C1407850 Ottawa Citizen Aug 10, 1936
  4. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ObQuAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jNoFAAAAIBAJ&dq=britannia-boating-club&pg=1189%2C1407850 Britannia Boating Club paddler Frank Amiot is Ottawa's Olympic Champion Ottawa Citizen Aug 10, 1936
  5. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=xG0uAAAAIBAJ&sjid=U9oFAAAAIBAJ&dq=britannia-boating-club&pg=2923%2C1843008 Britannia Boating Club Ottawa Citizen, Jun 2, 1936
  6. Type of Canoe was Strange to Amyot Ottawa Citizen 1936
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-01-15. Retrieved 2012-07-25.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) London meeting of 17 Britannia Boating Club members during WWII
  8. Canoe Kayak Canada trophies Canadian Sprint Canoe Kayak Championships Archived 2012-01-27 at the Wayback Machine
  • Frank Amyot Canadian Encyclopedia
  • Wallechinsky, David and Jaime Loucky (2008). "Canoeing: Men's Canadian Singles 1000 Meters". In The Complete Book of the Olympics: 2008 Edition. london: Aurum Press Limited. p. 479.
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