Media Room

Press Releases

June 10, 2008

Harry Jerome: His Indomitable Spirit Endures In The Meet That Bears His Name

Valerie Jerome remembers vividly that soggy September day.

"Back in 1964, Harry ran in the first Achilles track meet before going to the Olympics in Tokyo," she recalls. "It was a deluge - the water was over the runners' ankles. It wasn't a rubberized track back then, it was a cinder track and the conditions were terrible. But it was a very good field and despite the conditions everyone ran. And from there Harry went on to earn his bronze medal in the 100 metres in Tokyo.

"I have always felt really good that Harry was there at the beginning of it all. In a way, it is perfect the meet ended up being named for him."

Harry, of course, is none other than Valerie Jerome's brother, the great sprinter Harry Jerome who passed away suddenly on Dec. 7, 1982 at the age of 42. Through the 1960s Jerome was not only the top sprinter in Canada but among the very best in the world, having set numerous world records and won international medals despite also suffering serious injuries.

On June 21, 2008 the 25th Vancouver Sun Harry Jerome International Track Classic will be held at Burnaby's Swangard Stadium. The meet is organized annually by the Achilles International Track and Field Society, a group of athletes, coaches and athletics enthusiasts first formed in 1963 with the goal of creating an elite competition to help Canadian track and field athletes prepare for the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo.

That inaugural Achilles meet was held at Vancouver's Empire Stadium in September 1964 and, despite the sloppy conditions, North Vancouver's Harry Jerome won the 100 metres in 10.2 seconds and received a standing ovation from a soggy yet supportive crowd of some 7,000 spectators.

Achilles held several more indoor and outdoor meets until the group took a hiatus in the 1970s, re-emerging in 1983 with an international meet at Burnaby's Swangard Stadium. A year later, with Canadian athletes looking to make standards for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and some 40 years after that rainy first meet at Empire Stadium, Achilles re-named the event the Harry Jerome International Track Classic in honour of the late, great sprinter. Since then the annual Jerome meet has showcased some of the best names in Canadian, and international, track and field.

"It took me a long to recover from Harry's death," concedes Valerie Jerome, who in the 1960s joined her brother on the national team and was a Canadian champion over 60 and 100 metres and the long jump. "When Achilles re-named the meet in honour of Harry I was really choked up. I was very pleased that it had been done but at that first meet I didn't have any joy. It was still soon after he died and the meet was one of the very first things to commemorate his name and his career. I missed him so much.

"Now, 25 years later, the meet is still going strong, his name is still out there and so many great athletes have competed in the event. It's wonderful."

Indeed, the list of world and Olympic champions and record-holders to compete at the Jerome meet represents the very best of Canadian and international track and field. Among Valerie Jerome's favourites are pre-eminent American 800-metre runner Johnny Gray, a four-time Olympian and Olympic bronze medallist who for many years made the Jerome meet a mandatory stop on his busy schedule.

"He was such a nice person and he would win so easily," says Jerome of Gray, a seven-time U.S. champion. "To me, he represented a lot of what was good about the meet and the sport. He was enduring, as Harry certainly was, and he touched people with his attitude. Everyone in the audience cheered him because they could see his wonderful spirit."

Of course, the world's best sprinters have also passed through the meet over the years, including world record holders and Olympic champions such as Carl Lewis, Leroy Burrell and Canadian Donovan Bailey. Valerie concedes her brother would have enjoyed the notion of the finest sprinters coming to the meet bearing his name.

"I don't think he ever lived a moment without wanting to be in the blocks," she laughs. "Harry would have loved to have gotten in the blocks with a few of those sprinters."

Over the years the Jerome meet has served as a crucial event for Canadian athletes to meet top competition on home turf. From 2005 to 2007 the Jerome meet featured the Pacific World Cup pitting Canada against 2008 Olympic host China. The 2007 meet also featured a series of elementary school relays, a concept that has been expanded for the 2008 event with the Jerome Talent Search program, an Achilles initiative.

"Running transformed our lives, not only because of the discipline and the goal-setting but we met so many wonderful people who supported us and inspired us," says Valerie of sport's impact on her life, and Harry's.

"I think Harry would be really pleased right now with the meet putting a lot of emphasis on the kids. After Harry retired he did so many things for young people in sport. I think he would be flattered that all these great athletes have come to the meet. But what would really touch his heart is the fact that we are getting kids involved. That was always really important to him."

Jerome also lauded the tireless work of Dr. Doug and Diane Clement, former national team runners and inaugural Achilles founders who continue to devote enormous time and energy to organizing and overseeing many facets of the annual Jerome meet.

"They are so amazing," says Jerome. "They not only keep the meet going but they do it with such joy. They work so hard all year round on this meet. Their spirit, their enthusiasm, their determination have played such an important part."

The 25th annual Vancouver Sun Harry Jerome International Track Classic goes Saturday, June 21 at Burnaby's Swangard Stadium. Tickets and meet information are now available through the meet website at www.harryjerome.com.

For media inquiries contact:
Diane Clement
dclement00@hotmail.com or (604) 261-6220

For athlete information contact:
Marek Jedrezejek
marekj@interchange.ubc.ca or (604) 822-6259

or

Doug Clement
dclement00@hotmail.com

top