Induction year: 2015
Induction category: Athlete

Entering track cycling at the age of 28, Order of Sport Recipient and Hall of Famer Lori-Ann Muenzer would experience and overcome many challenges, obstacles, and physical setbacks, most notably a mountain biking accident in 1999 where she plunged off a cliff that almost ended her career, and a ruptured appendix in 2002 while competing in South America. Instead of quitting, she raised the bar. Using strategies like visualization and goal-setting, alongside intense training, Muenzer won gold at the 2004 Athens Olympic Summer Games, being the only Canadian, to this day, to do so. Even though Lori-Ann’s career began later in life than most athletes, she accumulated 13 National Championship Titles, 4 World Championship medals, 11 World Cup medals, 3 Commonwealth Games medals, and is a two-time Olympian (2000 & 2004) to become one of Canada’s most successful cyclists of all time. Lori-Ann gives back to her community by volunteering, supporting fundraising events for cancer research, penning self-help books, and providing motivational speaking.

Induction year: 1955
Induction category: Athlete

Order of Sport Recipient and Hall of Famer Tom Longboat was from the Six Nations Reserve near Brantford, Ontario and is one of the greatest long distance runners in Canada. After escaping residential school as a child, Longboat found his passion for running while working at his Uncle’s farm. He won the Around the Bay Road Race in Hamilton, Ontario at 19-years-old and then began competitively training for the 1907 Boston Marathon, which he ended up winning. From there, he continued to dominate the sport, but despite his proven athletic abilities, he was subjected to racism and criticism because he was Indigenous. His unique training methods were heavily scrutinized in the media and made him an easy scapegoat for racial stereotypes and attitudes towards Indigenous Peoples. Longboat put aside his professional running career in 1916 at age 29 to join the Canadian Armed Forces serving in Europe as a dispatch runner. In 1951, the Tom Longboat Award—still administered today by the Aboriginal Sport Circle—was created to reward excellence in sport and physical activity among Indigenous athletes.

Order of Sport Recipient and Hall of Famer Mary “Bonnie” Baker was a pioneer as both an athlete and manager of women’s baseball in Canada. As a result of the Second World War, baseball leagues in North America had a player shortage that was then filled by over 600 women, including Mary Baker. Baker’s athleticism and personal charm made her the first Canadian to sign with the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL), where she became a League favourite. Baker participated as an athlete in the League for nine out of the twelve years that the AAGPBL operated. During her time with the AAGPBL, she had appeared in 930 regular season games and 18 playoff games. Baker was nicknamed “Pretty Bonnie Baker” and she became a recognizable face of the League by regularly being featured in news articles. It is believed that Mary Baker’s life was the inspiration behind the main character, Dottie Hinson, in the film, A League of Their Own.

Induction year: 2001
Induction category: Athlete

Order of Sport Recipient and Hall of Famer Herb Carnegie was a Canadian ice hockey player and one of the best players to never play in a pro-league. He broke down many racial barriers as one of the first professional Black Canadian athletes in the sport and played on the first all-Black line in ice hockey history. The line was nicknamed the “Black Aces”, a play on the team name the Quebec Aces. While playing in the Quebec Senior Hockey League, Carnegie was voted his team’s Most Valuable Player three times and was often one of the top scorers in the league. After retiring from ice hockey Carnegie went beyond his wins when he founded the Future Aces Hockey School, one of the first ice hockey schools in Canada. The goal of the school was to foster respect, tolerance, diversity, and sportsmanship among young ice hockey players. Carnegie also continued his sports career as a senior golfer, winning numerous local and national championships.

Induction year: 2005
Induction category: Athlete

Order of Sport Recipient and Hall of Famer Stan Mikita was a Slovak-Canadian professional ice hockey player who is well-known for accidentally inventing the “banana blade” after breaking his stick in practice and experimenting with curves on hockey stick blades to see how it can affect shooting. More notably, he played for Team Canada during the infamous Summit Series against the Soviet Union in 1972. It began as a series which Canada was supposed to win all eight games and ended in the most dramatic goal in hockey history. The 1972 Summit Series was organized as a result of Canada's frustration at not being allowed to ice a team of professional players at the World Championships and Olympics, where the Soviets showed up with only their very best. And so, September 1972 was arranged to settle all bragging rights, best on best regardless of amateur status. Four games in Canada - Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Vancouver - followed by four in Moscow. It was a series that pitted democratic Canada against Communist CCCP, professional NHL versus "amateur" Soviet hockey. It was East against West, known versus unknown. Canada ultimately gained victory, 4-3-1 in the eight games, and changed hockey forever. The world saw international hockey as it never had before, and out of this series came the Canada Cup and the start of professional hockey played between nations.