Edward Archibald (athlete)

Archibald was the youngest boy in his family, which included seven children. His father was a Methodist preacher, and Archibald had a strict religious upbringing. Archibald recalled that Sundays were dedicated to church attendance and reading the bible; there was "no card playing allowed in the house on Sundays and no dancing". Archibald was offered an athletic scholarship to attend Syracuse University in New York, but declined it, and instead enrolled at the University of Toronto. ==Athletic career==

In 1905, at the University of Toronto, he set an intercollegiate pole vault record of 10' 2¼", and later, a world record of 12' 5½". Archibald also served as his country's flagbearer at the Olympics. He won a bronze medal in the pole vault event, that he shared jointly with American Clare Jacobs and Swede Bruno Söderström. He was also presented a diploma by Lord Desborough, President of the British Olympic Council, and during the event, he was described by King Edward VII as "the best example of a true Canadian that he had ever met." ==Post Olympics career==

Archibald worked as a prospector and was also involved with the YMCA. In 1915, Archibald traveled overseas, where he was in charge of sports and recreation programs for the soldiers. When he returned, he worked as a sports editor at the Ottawa Journal and was instrumental in getting a sporting goods store opened for the Ottawa Amateur Athletic Federation. In 1924, he opened a boy's summer fitness and wilderness camp near Lake Wanapitei, in Sudbury, Ontario. Twenty years later, he expanded the camp to include a YMCA's sports program, which was dedicated to Canada's World War II veterans. Archibald died in Toronto in 1965 at the age of 80. In 2001, he was inducted into the University of Toronto Sports Hall of Fame. ==See also==