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North American and Canadian Women’s Figure Skating Champion, Barbara-Ann Scott, Ottawa. Photo by: Fred Warrander- Wikimedia.

Top 10 Facts about Barbara Ann Scott

This Ottawa-born skating sensation became the youngest Canadian to earn the Gold Medal Test at the age of ten. She won the Canadian Junior Ladies title in 1940, the Senior title from 1944 to 1948, and the North American title from 1945 to 1948. She won the European title in 1947, giving Canada its first World Championship title.

She won the European, World, and Olympic titles the following year, 1948, becoming the first North American to do so, as well as the first Canadian figure skater to win an Olympic gold medal and the first to win back-to-back World titles.

She was known as ‘Canada’s Sweetheart’ after becoming the first female to be named Canada’s Outstanding Athlete of the Year a record three times in 1945, 1947, and 1948. Barbara Ann’s influence on figure skating in Canada and around the world is iconic.

1. Barbara Ann’s athletic career and lifestyle

Scott won gold in women’s figure skating at the 1948 Olympics on an outdoor rink in St. Moritz, Switzerland. She was the only Canadian to win the Canadian, European, and World championships all in the same year. Scott is still the only Canadian woman to have won an Olympic gold medal.

2. Horse riding on a competitive level

Barbara Ann Scott performing a stag jump at the Minto Skating Club. Photo by: Frank Royal- Wikimedia.

Scott went on to become one of the continent’s top equestrian riders after her competitive skating career ended, and she also trained horses for many years.

3. Barbara Ann won Canadian Women’s Championship

Scott won the Canadian women’s championship from 1944 to 1946 and again in 1948, as well as the North American championship in 1945. When she won the European and World Championships in 1947, she became a Canadian national hero, and dolls were made in her image; she repeated both victories in 1948.

She was the first North American of either gender to win a European title, and the only North American woman to do so; after she and Dick Button of the United States won in 1948, the competition was restricted to European nationals. Scott also won a gold medal in women’s figure skating at the 1948 Olympic Winter Games in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

4. Barbara Ann’s childhood

This photo was taken at the Lumbermen’s Picnic in Cloyne on June 28th, 1947. Joey Grant Jr. was awarded 2nd place in the baby contest. Be sure to view all the Lumbermen’s Picnic photos in the Alkenbrack album. Photo by: CDHS- Wikimedia.

Barbara Ann Scott was born and raised during the Great Depression, but she seems to have had a comfortable childhood. She excelled in swimming, golf, and horseback riding as a child, but skating became her passion.

She began serious training three years after receiving her first pair of skates as a Christmas present at the age of six, with the goal of becoming the world’s greatest figure skater. To cater their driven daughter, the Scotts rearranged her schedule to include private academic tutoring and long hours at Ottawa’s Minto Club’s rink.

Scott’s father, Clyde, a disabled World War I veteran who worked in the Division of Veterans’ Affairs, had a significant influence on his daughter’s early life. He nurtured her natural athletic abilities whilst still ingraining persistence and self-reliance in her.

“The main lessons my father taught me were sportsmanship and self-help,” Scott said. Mary Scott, her mother, also played a role in keeping her daughter grounded. “I told her that her ambition was fine, but if she ever showed temperament, her skating career was over,” Mary explained.

5. What she achieved during her career

At the age of ten, Barbara Ann Scott became the youngest Canadian to pass the gold figures test, the highest level, while skating for Ottawa’s Minto Club. Scott dazzled the world during her brief career, winning the Junior Women’s National title in 1940, the National Senior Women’s title (from 1944 to 1948), and two European Championship titles.

6. Barbara Ann’s individual awards

The list is extremely long; only a few highlights are included here.

Scott was a member of the Order of Ontario and an Officer of the Order of Canada. She is a member of the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame, the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame, the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame, Skate Canada’s Hall of Fame, and the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame.

Scott is a three-time Lou Marsh Trophy winner as Canada’s Athlete of the Year; he appeared on the covers of Time in 1948 and Life in 1952; he carried the Olympic Torch twice (1988 in Calgary and again during the 2010 Vancouver torch run); and he is inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame in Toronto.

7. Barbara Ann was the 1st international award winner

The Olympic flag is carried into BC Place stadium during the Opening Ceremony of the XXI Olympic Winter Games, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Photo by: Tim Hipps- Wikimedia.

Barbara Ann was the first person from a country other than Europe to win a world skating championship (1947). She was asked to carry the Olympic torch in the lead-up to the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary on the 40th anniversary of her Olympic victory.

The city of Ottawa announced the establishment of “The Barbara Ann Scott Room” in 2012, which features photographs, her championship awards, and the Olympic gold medal that Scott formally donated to the city in 2011.

8. A fascinating story about Barbara Ann

Scott received a new car after being named Canadian Newsmaker of the Year in 1947: a yellow Buick convertible. She had to return the vehicle due to amateur athletics rules at the time, which would have prevented her from competing in the 1948 Winter Games if she had accepted.

Scott, nevertheless, went back home after the Games and then gave up her amateur status to tour in international skating shows. The car was returned to her in May 1948, along with a “Key to the City” for her hometown of Ottawa.

9. Job opportunities after retiring the Olympics

This photo was taken at the Lumbermen’s Picnic in Cloyne in 1947. R.W. Kimberly was a major sponsor of the Picnic and owned Kimmerly Lumber in Napanee. Photo by: CDHS- Wikimedia.

Scott, who is well-known in her home country, assisted in carrying the Olympic torch to the 1988 and 2010 Winter Olympics, both of which were held in Canada. She was also chosen as one of the Olympic flagbearers in the latter edition, along with a slew of other Canadian luminaries.

She was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1991, a member of Canada’s Walk of Fame in 1998, and has been incorporated into the Canadian Olympic, Canada’s Sports, Ottawa Sports, Ice skating Canada, and International Women’s Sports Halls of Fames, in addition to being a three-time Lou Marsh Trophy winner as Canada’s best athlete (1945, 1947, 1948). She later moved to Florida, where she died in September 2012 at the age of 84.

10. Barbara Ann’s family background

Scott was the youngest of three children, born on May 9, 1928. Col. Clyde Rutherford Scott and Mary Purves were her parents.