Hector "Hec" Phillips (May 26, 1889 (in Edinburgh, Great Britain) – October 7, 1948)[1] was a Canadian athlete who competed in the 1920 and 1924 Summer Olympics. Phillips was Canada's flag bearer at the 1924 Olympics in Paris.[2]
Phillips competed in both the 400 metres and 800 metres at the 1920 Olympics. In the 400 metres he finished fifth in his heat and failed to advance. In the 800 metres he finished eighth in his quarterfinal heat and did not advance. He also competed in the 800 metres in the 1924 Olympics, finishing fifth in his heat and failing to advance.[1]
From 1933 to his death in 1948, Phillips was the coach of the University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's track and field team. In 1950 a group of his former athletes donated the Hec Phillips Memorial Trophy, which is presented annually to an outstanding athlete at the Ontario University Athletics's outdoor meet.[3] Phillips was to be the coach of the Canadian athletics team at the 1948 Summer Olympics, but a sudden illness prevented him. He died later that year and was buried in the Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto.[4]
In 1997, Phillips was inducted into the University of Toronto Varsity Blues Hall of Fame as a builder.[3]
Personal life
editPhillips served with the 3rd Battalion (Toronto Regiment), Canadian Expeditionary Force[5] in the First World War as a gunner.[6] At his enlistment on March 25, 1915, in Toronto, he listed his occupation as a bank clerk, and was unmarried with no children.[7]
References
edit- ^ a b "Hec Phillips". Sports-Reference. Archived from the original on 3 December 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
- ^ "Hec Phillips". Olympedia. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
- ^ a b "Hec Phillips". Toronto Varsity Blues. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
- ^ "Hector Phillips". Mount Pleasant Cemetery. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
- ^ "Our Boys at Stamford Bridge Military Meeting of the L.A.C.". Weekly Chronicle: of the 47th Battalion of New Westminster, B.C. Canada. Vol. 1, no. 40. 20 May 1916. pp. 1, 3.
- ^ "Canadians' Sports at Folkstone". Military Mail: the Organ of the Regular and Territorial Forces and the National Reserve. No. 798. 7 July 1916. p. 16.
- ^ "Phillips, Hector". Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 6 August 2016.