About Ethel Catherwood
Ethel Hannah Catherwood (April 28, 1908 – September 26, 1987) was a Canadian track and field athlete who won a gold medal in the high jump at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. She competed as a member of Canada's first Olympic women's track and field team, later known as the "Matchless Six", which took part in the first Olympic Games to include women's athletics in 1928. Catherwood won the event with a jump of 1.59 metres, becoming the first woman in Olympic history to win a gold medal in the high jump. Before the Olympics, Catherwood was one of Canada's leading high jumpers and held several national titles in the event. Known for her height and athletic ability, she dominated women's high jump competition in Canada during the late 1920s and was widely regarded as one of the strongest competitors entering the inaugural Olympic women's high jump event. After the 1928 Olympics Catherwood retired from international competition while still in her early twenties. Her victory at Amsterdam formed part of Canada's strong performance in the first Olympic program to include women's athletics, in which members of the Matchless Six won multiple medals and helped establish Canada as a leading nation in early international women's track and field competition. At Bedford Road Collegiate, she starred in basketball, developing a looping one-handed shot and, on one occasion, scoring a city-record 49 points less than a year before her Olympic victory.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.