George Hungerford took up rowing in high school, entered the University of British Columbia in 1961, and made the school’s varsity crew in 1963. A year later he was a member of the Canadian Championship-winning men’s eights and was set to travel to the 1964 Summer Olympics until a bout of mononucleosis kicked him off the team. He was replaced by Donald Pretty, which left Roger Jackson without a partner in the coxless pairs. Despite Hungerford’s inexperience in the event, the duo trained hard and won their first race together at the Games, qualifying for the finals with the fastest time the field. In the medal round they defeated favorites Steven Blaisse and Ernst Veenemans of the Netherlands to win the gold medal, Canada’s only one of the tournament. For their achievement they were jointly awarded the Lou Marsh Trophy as the nation’s top athletes of the year.
Hungerford graduated from UBC in 1965, but returned for a law degree and continued to row with the team until his retirement from active competition in 1966. He was called to the bar in 1969 and, as of 2021, works as a corporate attorney at his own firm, the George W. Hungerford Law Corporation, and remains involved in sports administration. It was in the latter capacity that he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1984 and he has been inducted into Canada’s Sports (1964), British Columbia Sports (1966), the Canadian Olympic (1971), and the University of British Columbia Sports (1994) Halls of Fame.
Canada