Lionel Coleman

Although only 18 at the time, when Lionel Coleman was chosen to represent Canada in cycling at the 1936 Summer Olympics, he was already well known as one of the top amateur riders in the country. In the Olympic trials he had captured the quarter-mile event and competed in the individual road race, the team road race, and the team 4000m pursuit at the Games, but did not win medals in any of them. Despite this, Coleman continued to compete to acclaim in Canada, coming in second at the 1938 National Championships, and was described by one newspaper as “one of the best amateur riders ever produced in [the] country”. His career came to an unfortunate end, however, in 1941 when, at the age of only 23, he drowned in the Hamilton harbor while assisting police in bringing in boats to the dock during a heavy gale.