Cal Bricker

A dentist by profession, Cal Bricker was already known by the title of “Doctor” when he attended his first Olympic Games in 1908, but this was the least of his accomplishments. A 1907 graduate of the University of Toronto, he was an all-around athlete, a two-time intercollegiate champion in both the long and triple jumps, and had set a Canadian record (one that would last 27 years) in the former at the Olympic trials. At the Games he won a bronze medal in the long jump, just a quarter of an inch shy of American Dan Kelly’s silver medal, and finished fourth in the triple jump. Four years later, at the 1912 Games, he improved to silver in the long jump, but dropped to 18th in the triple jump. He later served in World War I as a member of the dental corps and helped organize the Allied Forces Games in 1919 in Paris. Upon his return he settled in Saskatchewan, where he spent the rest of his life practicing dentistry in Grenfell. He has been inducted into Canada’s (1956), the Saskatchewan (1966), and the University of Toronto (1996) Sports Halls of Fame and the Cal D. Bricker Memorial Trophy, given annually to the nation’s best jumper, is named in his honor, as is a field at the Grenfell high school.

Personal Bests: LJ – 7.22 (1908); TJ – 14.10 (1908).