The first person to congratulate Williams after he won the 200-metre event at the 1928 Olympics was Canada’s only other winner of it, Bobby Kerr of Hamilton. Kerr had won the same event at the 1908 Olympics in London, England, and was in Amsterdam 20 years later as captain of the Canadian Olympic team.
 

Bobby Kerr, first to cross the finish line in the 200-yard final at the 1908 London Olympics, was the first Canadian sprinter to win an Olympic gold medal. [Photo, courtesy Charles J. Humber Collection]

Born in Enniskillen, Ireland, in 1882, Kerr moved with his family to Kemptville, Ontario, when he was five, but they settled in Hamilton 18 months later. Bobby loved to run, but, because he began working in his teens he had to squeeze in training after his 12-hour day. As a result, he was 20 before he first gained prominence as a premier runner, winning, in 1902, the 100-, 440-, and 800-yard races at the Hamilton Coronation Games. The following year, the man destined to become the fastest human won the 100- and 200-yard events at the YMCA championships. He then spent his own savings from his company fire brigade job to go to St. Louis for the 1904 Olympics.

Kerr lost in a qualifying round but, once back in Hamilton, entered meets wherever he could in Canada and in U.S. border cities. Over the next three years he set new Canadian records for the 40, 50, 60, 75, 100, 150, 220 yards and the 100 and 200 metres. In 1907 he won both the 100- and 200-yard Canadian titles and had 39 other first-place finishes. He continued his string of victories in 1908 by sweeping the sprint events at the Ontario and Canadian Games before going to London to compete in the Olympics.

Being entered in two events, Bobby, like Percy, had to compete six times over a period of four days in order to qualify and reach the finals. On the morning of July 22, for instance, he won the semi-final in the 200-metre semi-finals and, that afternoon, placed third for the bronze medal in the 100-metre final. The next day he captured the Gold in the 200-metre final.

It was a popular win in London as British fans looked upon Bobby as representing the Empire. In Hamilton, the news of his victory set off a celebration of bell ringing, whistle blowing, and a flag raising ceremony at City Hall. When he arrived home in August, a gala parade was held in his honour and gifts were showered on the world-champion hero in much the same way as Williams would be fêted some 20 years later in Vancouver.

There was, however, a big difference between the only two Canadian men who have ever won Olympic gold medals at those distances. Kerr remained active in track and field activities for years. He attended four Olympiads in various capacities, served as honorary secretary of the Canadian Olympic Association, and was everything from an official starter to meet director and chairman of numerous other track and field meets for years. When Kerr died in 1963 at age 81, Ivan Miller, sports director of the Hamilton Spectator, wrote, “Oldtimers will remember with deep nostalgia the torch light parades that welcomed Bobby back from conquest after conquest, and they’ll miss the modesty that set apart a man who just did his best.”

Mel James