According to the Canadian Press on Thursday, Canadian Olympic gold medalist Doug Anakin of Chatham, Ontario passed away at the age of 89 on Saturday. Anakin won a gold medal for Canada in the four-man bobsled at the 1964 Olympic Winter Games in Innsbruck alongside brothers Vic and John Emery of Montreal, Quebec, and Peter Kirby of Montreal.
The Canadian team shocked the bobsledding world in winning gold in Innsbruck. They entered the Olympic competition with no corporate or government sponsorship, but came through with a dominant victory. The Canadian team posted a winning time of four minutes, 14.46 seconds to beat the silver medalists and hometown favourites from Austria by a full 1.02 seconds after four runs. The bobsled Anakin won a gold medal in with the Emery brothers and Kirby could be seen for many years at the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary.
The gold medal in men’s bobsled in 1964 could be considered one of Canada’s most unlikely gold medals in Olympic Winter Games history. The only other shocking gold medal that comes to mind is when Chandra Crawford of Calgary, Alberta placed first in the women’s individual cross country skiing sprint at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin.
Anakin, and his bobsled team were inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1964. They were also inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 1971.
Anakin and his wife Mary Jean moved from Quebec to British Columbia in the 1990’s. He is survived by his wife and two daughters.
