Today in our History – September 30, 1940 - "Harry" Winston Jerome was born.

GM – LIF – Today’s North American Champion was a?Canadian ?track and field ?sprinter ?and?physical education ?teacher. He won a bronze medal at the?1964 Olympics ?in?Tokyo ?and set a total of seven world records over the course of his career.

Today in our History – September 30, 1940 - "Harry" Winston Jerome was born.

Harry Jerome was born in?Prince Albert ,?Saskatchewan , the son of Harry Vincent Jerome and Elsie Ellen Howard, and moved to?North Vancouver ,?British Columbia , at age 12. His grandfather was?John Howard , an American-born?railway porter ?who represented Canada in the?1912 Summer Olympics . Harry's sister,?Valerie Jerome , was also an Olympian who competed for Canada at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome.

Jerome competed at the university level for?Bill Bowerman ?at the?University of Oregon . He was a member of the Canadian track and field team at the?1960 ,?1964 , and?1968 Summer Olympics , winning?100 meter ?bronze ?in 1964. Jerome wore his University of Oregon sweats, rather than the contemporary practice of an official national outfit for all Olympic appearances, to warm up for the Olympic 100 meters in Tokyo. He won the?gold ?in the?1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games .

During his career, Jerome set a total of seven world records, including tying the?100 meter record ?at 10.0 seconds in 1960, equaling the mark established a month earlier by Germany's?Armin Hary . Later he tied the world record for the 100-yard dash at 9.3 seconds (1961), making Jerome one of the few athletes to own both the 100 yard and 100 meter world record simultaneously.

Jerome was a member of the University of Oregon?4 × 100 m?relay team that tied the world record of 40.0 seconds in 1962; during the 1962 season Harry ran 9.2s at the 100-yard dash 2 times. In 1966 he again tied a world record with a 9.1 time in the 100 yard. From 1963 to 1966 he held or equaled four world records concurrently.

He remains the only man to have held the 100 yard world record with 3 different times & is the oldest 100y world record holder - 25 years old; the youngest is?Houston McTear ?at 9.0s he was 18 years old. Jerome never owned the 100y or 100m WR solely but matched his contemporaries.

Jerome continued to sprint successfully until the late 1960s, despite suffering an injury so severe at the?Perth Commonwealth Games ?in 1962 that doctors initially believed he would be crippled for life.[citation needed ]

Jerome received a bachelor's degree in?physical education ?from the University of Oregon in 1964 and taught with the Richmond School Board (1964–65) and then with the Vancouver School Board (1965–68). In 1968, he received a master's in physical education from Oregon.

After retiring from athletics in 1969, Jerome was invited by Prime Minister?Pierre Trudeau ?to help create Canada's new Ministry of Sport. Jerome held a number of senior positions in the ministry but resigned over the government's cancellation of a large public-private partnership he had negotiated with?Kellogg's ?to promote youth participation in athletics. During the 1980s, Jerome headed the Premier's Sport Award program in British Columbia.

Jerome died of a?brain aneurysm ?on December 7, 1982, at the age of 42, in?North Vancouver .

In 1970, Jerome was made an Officer of the?Order of Canada .?The following year he was inducted into?Canada's Sports Hall of Fame . Jerome was posthumously inducted into?Canada's Walk of Fame ?in 2001 and was named a Person of National Historical Significance in 2010.

In 1984, the Labatts International Track Classic Pre-Olympic meet was renamed the Harry Jerome International Track Classic.?The meet is held annually at?Swangard Stadium ?in?Burnaby, British Columbia . The Harry Jerome Sports Complex in North Vancouver, one block from North Vancouver High School where he first went out for track in 1958, and the Harry Jerome Sports Centre, home to the Burnaby?Velodrome , are named after Jerome, as are the weight room at the?University of Oregon ?and the track and field stadium in Prince Albert.

The?Stanley Park ?sea wall in Vancouver is graced with a 2.7-metre (9?ft) bronze?statue of Jerome . The annual Harry Jerome Awards, the national awards dinner for Canada's black community organized by the Black Business and Professionals Association (BBPA), is named after him.

Another meet, called the Harry Jerome Indoor Games was created in 2011. It is held at the Richmond Olympic Oval, once used for?Speed Skating ?events at the?2010 Vancouver Olympics , but now a multi-purpose sports facility. The meet is mainly attended by high school students representing lower mainland clubs, as well as some university student-athletes, and younger athletes.

On September 30, 2019,?Google ?celebrated Harry Jerome's 79th birthday with a?Google Doodle .

Production began in April 2009 on a feature-length biographical documentary entitled?Mighty Jerome. Directed by?Charles Officer ?and produced by the?National Film Board of Canada ?(NFB) in Vancouver, the film was inspired by?Fil Fraser ’s book on Jerome, entitled?Running Uphill.

NFB producer?Selwyn Jacob ?had approached Officer — along with four other directors — in 2007 with idea of making a documentary about Jerome. Officer's proposal was selected by Jacob and the NFB, despite the fact that he had never directed a documentary before.

The?black and white film ?uses?archival footage ,?interviews ?and?dramatizations ?to explore Jerome's life and career. Officer recreated museum installations in Toronto, Edmonton and Vancouver to interview Jerome's contemporaries and family members. Jerome's sister Valerie refused to participate in the film due to objections over his portrayal in Fraser's book. The film premiered at the?Vancouver International Film Festival ?on October 8, 2010.

Jerome's 100 meter bronze medal performance at the Tokyo?1964 Summer Olympics ?is captured in the documentary film?Tokyo Olympiad ?(1965) directed by?Kon Ichikawa . Slow motion close-up footage of Jerome (along with other athletes) preparing for the race begins at the 26-minute mark and then the race is shown in its entirety at full speed. Research more about this great North American Champion and share it with your babies. Make it a champion day!

?