PEI's First Olympian
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As we have all just finished watching the 2018 Winter Olympics, I wanted to take a look back at PEI's first Olympian.
In 1896, the Olympic Games were revived in Athens and have been going strong since with few interruptions. The obvious exceptions being the First and Second World War.
Canada has taken part in the Olympics since 1900, with the exception of the 1980's summer games. Canada boycotted them, an action initiated by the United States, to protest the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan. At the 1984 summer games, the Soviet Union led another boycott.
PEI's first Olympian was Bill (William) Halpenny. He excelled at numerous track and field events, but it was pole-vaulting that took him to the 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis, Missouri.
Halpenny was active in the Island's athletic community. In 1901, he and the rest of his team from the Abegweit Amateur Athletic Association won the Maritime Provinces Amateur Athletic Association Championships. On August 30, he broke the Maritime record of 10 feet and 1 inch!
And he kept exceeding expectations! Over the next three years, he broke his own record of 10 feet and 1 inch, at the Hillsborough Rink he established a new Canadian indoor pole-vaulting record, and in July of 1904, he broke the Canadian outdoor record in Summerside with a jump of 11 feet and 5 inches.
Impressive.
He was so impressive he made it to the 1904 Olympics.
There were some mix-ups at these games, however. St. Louis was putting on its World Fair and as a result, the International Olympic Committee was reluctant to hold the games there. They did approve St. Louis as the hosts, only months before the games were to take place. As a result, many countries couldn't compete and Halpenny's pole-vaulting pole did not arrive on time for his jump. He was forced to borrow one a few inches shorter than his own.
He came fourth with a final jump of 11 feet, members of the Abegweit Club claimed he would have won gold if he had his own pole.
After the Olympics, Halpenny moved to Montreal and became a member of the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association (MAAA). As odd as it may seem, this was seen as an achievement on the same level or higher as going to the Olympics! The MAAA was the most prestigious and recognized athletic organization in Canada. One of the greatest advantages for him at the MAAA was that they had better coaches and more members which meant he pushed himself even further.
In 1912, he was given another chance to go to the Olympics. When the pole-vaulting competition was down to six contenders, Halpenny started his run towards the bar, cleared it, and injured his chest and ribs so badly he was forced to withdraw from the competition.
To the International Olympic Committee, his fall demonstrated the need for better and safer landing conditions. These athletes were, after all, vaulting almost 13 feet! They needed safe landing conditions. The Committee awarded him a special bronze medal.
But it's okay. Once he was healed, he competed against the 1912 Olympic gold medalist, H.S. Badcock, and in front of a large crowd at the Canadian Track and Field Championship, held at the MAAA training grounds, he beat Badcock's record of 12 feet and 11.5 inches!
He maintained his status as the best in 1913 and was looking forward to the 1914 Canadian Championships as they were being held in Charlottetown and he had not pole-vaulted in Charlottetown since 1904. The event was cancelled, however, as war was declared against Germany.
After the war, he returned to Charlottetown and reinvigorated the Island's athletic fields and programs. He transitioned from successful athlete to coach when he coached his team to victory in the 1921 and 1922 Maritime Championships. At the 1922 Championships, he decided to pole-vault one last time to try to take back the Maritime outdoor record... at 40 years old.
By this time, Pictou's Len McDonald held the Maritime record with a jump of 11 feet and 1 inch.
According to the Halifax Herald, "making the most spectacular vault ever seen in Halifax. . . " Halpenny cleared 11 feet and 4.5 inches.
From what I can tell, his indoor Maritime record was 11 feet and 5 inches, his outdoor Maritime record was 11 feet and 4.5 inches. As the conditions you would be pole-vaulting in would be vastly different, it makes sense that indoor and outdoor records were kept separately. His best vault was 12 feet and 11.5 inches in Montreal.
Halpenny was born May 23, 1882, and died February 10, 1960. In 1970, he was inducted into the PEI Sports Hall of Fame. Six years later, in 1976, Sport PEI created the Bill Halpenny Award for Island athletes with outstanding athletic achievements at the international level.
Winners of this award include Heather Moyse, Mark Arendz, Bill Bridges, Jeff Ellsworth, Jared Connaughton, Brett Gallant and more. If you want to see more recipients, you can check out the Sport PEI website.
PEI has produced some amazing athletes - Heather Moyse, Mark Arendz, Bill Bridges, Vern Handrahan, Eli MacEachern, Billy MacMillan, Kim Dolan, Jared Connaughton, Adam McQuaid, Brad Richards, and others. Some people say we do well for a small province, others, such as Connaughton, believe we can do better. He told CBC News in 2016 "I think saying we can't do it because we're small is a cop out. . . we have some great coaches, but they're stretched thin." He also called for coaches to have some formal training. Then we don't just happen upon some great athletes.
Of course, this can be hard when some sports can be expensive. . . I'm looking at you hockey. You are awesome but expensive.
So that is a brief story of our first Olympian. I will admit when I started looking at this topic I did not expect pole-vaulting to the sport that took an Islander to the Olympics. Although, the name, Bill Halpenny, was familiar.
I hope you enjoyed this blog and if you do like my blog you can subscribe or follow!
Sources
"Awards." Sports PEI. http://www.sportpei.pe.ca/awards/latest/no/3
"Bill Halpenny - 1912 Olympic Bronze Medal." Mainstreet PEI." March 6, 2014. From "http://www.cbc.ca/mainstreetpei/sports/2014/03/06/bill-halpenny---1912-olympic-bronze-medal/
"Bill Halpenny." PEI Sports Hall of Fame and Museum Inc. From https://www.peisportshalloffame.ca/inductees/bill-halpenny/
Distler, Anthony. Olympic History: 1896 Summer Olympics. Vavel: The International Sports Newspaper. 2016. From https://www.vavel.com/en-us/more-sports/2016/04/03/627739-olympic-history-1896-summer-olympics.html
"Los Angeles 1984." Olympic Games. From https://www.olympic.org/los-angeles-1984.
https://www.olympic.org/los-angeles-1984
As we have all just finished watching the 2018 Winter Olympics, I wanted to take a look back at PEI's first Olympian.
 |
| Logo for the 1896 Olympic Games. Image credit to Vavel: The International Sports Newspaper |
In 1896, the Olympic Games were revived in Athens and have been going strong since with few interruptions. The obvious exceptions being the First and Second World War.
Canada has taken part in the Olympics since 1900, with the exception of the 1980's summer games. Canada boycotted them, an action initiated by the United States, to protest the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan. At the 1984 summer games, the Soviet Union led another boycott.
PEI's first Olympian was Bill (William) Halpenny. He excelled at numerous track and field events, but it was pole-vaulting that took him to the 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis, Missouri.
 |
| Halpenny in 1912. Image credit to Charles Ballem and Island Magazine. |
Halpenny was active in the Island's athletic community. In 1901, he and the rest of his team from the Abegweit Amateur Athletic Association won the Maritime Provinces Amateur Athletic Association Championships. On August 30, he broke the Maritime record of 10 feet and 1 inch!
And he kept exceeding expectations! Over the next three years, he broke his own record of 10 feet and 1 inch, at the Hillsborough Rink he established a new Canadian indoor pole-vaulting record, and in July of 1904, he broke the Canadian outdoor record in Summerside with a jump of 11 feet and 5 inches.
Impressive.
He was so impressive he made it to the 1904 Olympics.
There were some mix-ups at these games, however. St. Louis was putting on its World Fair and as a result, the International Olympic Committee was reluctant to hold the games there. They did approve St. Louis as the hosts, only months before the games were to take place. As a result, many countries couldn't compete and Halpenny's pole-vaulting pole did not arrive on time for his jump. He was forced to borrow one a few inches shorter than his own.
He came fourth with a final jump of 11 feet, members of the Abegweit Club claimed he would have won gold if he had his own pole.
After the Olympics, Halpenny moved to Montreal and became a member of the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association (MAAA). As odd as it may seem, this was seen as an achievement on the same level or higher as going to the Olympics! The MAAA was the most prestigious and recognized athletic organization in Canada. One of the greatest advantages for him at the MAAA was that they had better coaches and more members which meant he pushed himself even further.
 |
| Bill Halpenny pole-vaulting. Unfortunately, there are few images available. Image credit to Charles Ballem and the Island Magazine. |
In 1912, he was given another chance to go to the Olympics. When the pole-vaulting competition was down to six contenders, Halpenny started his run towards the bar, cleared it, and injured his chest and ribs so badly he was forced to withdraw from the competition.
To the International Olympic Committee, his fall demonstrated the need for better and safer landing conditions. These athletes were, after all, vaulting almost 13 feet! They needed safe landing conditions. The Committee awarded him a special bronze medal.
 |
| Pole-vaulting landing pad from the California Sky Jumpers Vault Vertical Sports Club. Much safer than they were in Halpenny's day. |
But it's okay. Once he was healed, he competed against the 1912 Olympic gold medalist, H.S. Badcock, and in front of a large crowd at the Canadian Track and Field Championship, held at the MAAA training grounds, he beat Badcock's record of 12 feet and 11.5 inches!
He maintained his status as the best in 1913 and was looking forward to the 1914 Canadian Championships as they were being held in Charlottetown and he had not pole-vaulted in Charlottetown since 1904. The event was cancelled, however, as war was declared against Germany.
 |
| Image from The Globe, April 10, 1917. |
After the war, he returned to Charlottetown and reinvigorated the Island's athletic fields and programs. He transitioned from successful athlete to coach when he coached his team to victory in the 1921 and 1922 Maritime Championships. At the 1922 Championships, he decided to pole-vault one last time to try to take back the Maritime outdoor record... at 40 years old.
By this time, Pictou's Len McDonald held the Maritime record with a jump of 11 feet and 1 inch.
According to the Halifax Herald, "making the most spectacular vault ever seen in Halifax. . . " Halpenny cleared 11 feet and 4.5 inches.
From what I can tell, his indoor Maritime record was 11 feet and 5 inches, his outdoor Maritime record was 11 feet and 4.5 inches. As the conditions you would be pole-vaulting in would be vastly different, it makes sense that indoor and outdoor records were kept separately. His best vault was 12 feet and 11.5 inches in Montreal.
Halpenny was born May 23, 1882, and died February 10, 1960. In 1970, he was inducted into the PEI Sports Hall of Fame. Six years later, in 1976, Sport PEI created the Bill Halpenny Award for Island athletes with outstanding athletic achievements at the international level.
Winners of this award include Heather Moyse, Mark Arendz, Bill Bridges, Jeff Ellsworth, Jared Connaughton, Brett Gallant and more. If you want to see more recipients, you can check out the Sport PEI website.
 |
| Heather Moyse holding potatoes. . . so Island. Image credit to the PEI Potato Board. |
PEI has produced some amazing athletes - Heather Moyse, Mark Arendz, Bill Bridges, Vern Handrahan, Eli MacEachern, Billy MacMillan, Kim Dolan, Jared Connaughton, Adam McQuaid, Brad Richards, and others. Some people say we do well for a small province, others, such as Connaughton, believe we can do better. He told CBC News in 2016 "I think saying we can't do it because we're small is a cop out. . . we have some great coaches, but they're stretched thin." He also called for coaches to have some formal training. Then we don't just happen upon some great athletes.
Of course, this can be hard when some sports can be expensive. . . I'm looking at you hockey. You are awesome but expensive.
So that is a brief story of our first Olympian. I will admit when I started looking at this topic I did not expect pole-vaulting to the sport that took an Islander to the Olympics. Although, the name, Bill Halpenny, was familiar.
I hope you enjoyed this blog and if you do like my blog you can subscribe or follow!
Sources
"Awards." Sports PEI. http://www.sportpei.pe.ca/awards/latest/no/3
Ballem, Charles. "First Island Olympian." Island Magazine, pp. 23-27. From http://vre2.upei.ca/islandmagazine/fedora/repository/vre%3Aislemag-batch2-200/OBJ
"Bill Halpenny - 1912 Olympic Bronze Medal." Mainstreet PEI." March 6, 2014. From "http://www.cbc.ca/mainstreetpei/sports/2014/03/06/bill-halpenny---1912-olympic-bronze-medal/
"Bill Halpenny." PEI Sports Hall of Fame and Museum Inc. From https://www.peisportshalloffame.ca/inductees/bill-halpenny/
Distler, Anthony. Olympic History: 1896 Summer Olympics. Vavel: The International Sports Newspaper. 2016. From https://www.vavel.com/en-us/more-sports/2016/04/03/627739-olympic-history-1896-summer-olympics.html
"Los Angeles 1984." Olympic Games. From https://www.olympic.org/los-angeles-1984.
https://www.olympic.org/los-angeles-1984
"News Letter 2012 #3: Jan Johnsons Pole Vault Safety and Techniques."Sky Jumpers Vault Vertical Vault Sports Club. 2012. From http://www.vstraining.com/skyjumpers/newsletters/134-news-letter-2012-3-jan-johnsons-pole-vault-safety-and-technique
"Olympic Gold Medalist Heather Moyse dishes on cool recipes with hot potatoes." PEI Potatoes. From https://www.peipotato.org/media-centre/olympic-gold-medalist-heather-moyse-dishes-cool-recipes-hot-potatoes
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