Abby Hoffman
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Abigail Golda Hoffman[1] |
| Born | February 11, 1947 Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Height | 175 cm (5 ft 9 in)[1] |
| Weight | 57 kg (126 lb)[1] |
| Sport | |
| Country | Canada |
| Sport | Track and field |
Medal record | |
Abigail Golda Hoffman, OC (born February 11, 1947) is a Canadian former track and field athlete.
Hockey
[edit]Hoffman is Jewish, and was born in Toronto.[2][3][4] She learned to skate when she was three. In the mid-1950s when she was nine, she wanted to play hockey but there weren't any existing leagues specifically for girls in the Toronto area. As a result her parents registered her in the local boy's league as "Ab Hoffman". Due to her age and the fact that Abby sported a short hair cut, she was not easy to distinguish from the boys. When it was discovered she was a girl, she was no longer allowed to play despite the fact that she had not yet reached the age of puberty. The case went to the Ontario Supreme Court, where she lost,[5] and the story was covered by Time and Newsweek.[6]
Track and field
[edit]After her experiences with hockey, Hoffman participated in competitive swimming and then realized she was particularly suited to track and field, specifically 800-metre running. She competed in four Olympic Games: (1964, 1968, 1972 and 1976), four Pan American Games and two Commonwealth Games and was Canada's flag-bearer at the 1976 Games in Montreal.
Hoffman competed in two summer Universiades in 1965 and 1967, where she took home a bronze medal and a silver medal respectively in the 800 metre event. She won the gold medal in the 880-yard event at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games.
She finished seventh in the 800 metres at the Mexico Olympics. She finished eighth in the 1972 Munich games where she ran the 800 metres in 2:00.17 seconds to set a Canadian record.[7] She also won gold for the 800-metre race at the 1963 Pan American Games and 1971 Pan American Games and the bronze at the 1967, at the 1975 Games, a silver and a bronze for the 800-metre and the 1500-metre distances.
At the 1969 Maccabiah Games in Israel, she won the women's 800 m run.[8]
Post-athletics
[edit]From 1981 to 1991, she was the first woman director general of Sport Canada, a federal government sports agency. In 1981, she was the first Canadian woman elected to the Executive Committee of the Canadian Olympic Committee. From 1980 to 1982, she wrote a fitness column for the Canadian magazine, Chatelaine.
In 1982, she and Maureen McTeer, supported the first women's national championship in ice hockey (known as the Shopper's Drug Mart Women's Nationals). The Abby Hoffman Cup is named in her honour. Since 1995, she has been a council member of the International Association of Athletics Federations. In 2003, she was named senior advisor with Health Canada and is executive co-ordinator of Health Canada's pharmaceutical management strategies. She is currently the assistant deputy minister for the Strategic Policy Branch for Health Canada.
She is also the sister of Paul F. Hoffman, a geologist who has promoted the "snowball earth" hypothesis.
Honours
[edit]In 1982, Hoffman was made an officer of the Order of Canada. In 2004, she was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. In 2007, she was inducted into the Jewish Canadian Athletes Hall of Fame.[2] In June 2015, she received an honorary Doctorate of Laws, from her alma mater, the University of Toronto.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Abby Hoffman". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
- ^ a b "Jewish Canadian Athletes Hall of Fame". Jewish Canadian Athletes Hall of Fame.
- ^ Kidd, Bruce (1996). The Struggle for Canadian Sport. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. 6. ISBN 0-8020-0717-1.
- ^ "Welcome to Jews In Sports Online". Jews in Sports.
- ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20220617111425/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/18/sports/olympics/18whockey.html
- ^ Hockey's Book of Firsts, p.51, James Duplacey, JG Press, ISBN 978-1-57215-037-9
- ^ "Abby Hoffman".
- ^ "Julie Heldman Wins Third Tennis Medal In Games in Israel". The New York Times.
- ^ "News | University of Toronto". utoronto.ca.
- "Abby Hoffman". Women Warriors. Archived from the original on September 2, 2005. Retrieved June 29, 2005.
- "Abby Hoffman". Library and Archives Canada. Archived from the original on January 11, 2006. Retrieved June 29, 2005.
- "Abigail "Abby" Hoffman". Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on July 9, 2015. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
External links
[edit]- 1956 CBC Radio archives story about her
- CBC Television archives story about her
- Abby Hoffman at World Athletics
- Abby Hoffman at Team Canada
- Abby Hoffman at Olympics.com
- Abby Hoffman at Olympedia
|
Commonwealth Games champions in women's 800 metres | |
|---|---|
| 880 yards (1934, 1962–1966) |
|
| 800 metres (1970–present) |
|
- USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners
- 1947 births
- Living people
- Canadian female middle-distance runners
- Track and field athletes from Toronto
- Jewish Canadian sportspeople
- Olympic track and field athletes for Canada
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics
- Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Canada
- Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
- Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field)
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1963 Pan American Games
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1967 Pan American Games
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1971 Pan American Games
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1975 Pan American Games
- Officers of the Order of Canada
- Jewish track and field athletes
- Maccabiah Games gold medalists for Canada
- Maccabiah Games medalists in athletics
- Competitors at the 1969 Maccabiah Games
- Canadian women's ice hockey players
- Pan American Games gold medalists for Canada
- Pan American Games silver medalists for Canada
- Pan American Games bronze medalists for Canada
- Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field)
- FISU World University Games silver medalists for Canada
- FISU World University Games bronze medalists for Canada
- Medalists at the 1965 Summer Universiade
- Medalists at the 1967 Summer Universiade
- Medalists at the 1963 Pan American Games
- Medalists at the 1967 Pan American Games
- Medalists at the 1971 Pan American Games
- Medalists at the 1975 Pan American Games
- Medallists at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
- Canadian Track and Field Championships winners