Phil Olsen

Canadian javelin thrower Phil Olsen made his Olympic début at the age of 19 on home soil at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montréal where he finished 11th. A 1978 Commonwealth Games champion, Olsen personally received his gold medal from Queen Elizabeth II who told him, “Good job, Master Olsen. You represented your country so well.” He was world ranked number three and favoured to win a medal at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, but Olsen missed his opportunity when Canada joined the US-led boycott following the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan. At the Pan American Games, Olsen finished fifth (1975), fourth (1979), and seventh (1983). Due to a shoulder injury, he missed the podium placing fourth at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, and then missed making the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic team due to another injury.

Long known for his positive outlook on life, Olsen’s javelin career started in 1970 while attending high school at Woodlands Secondary School in Nanaimo, British Columbia. By 1973, he was the Canada Summer Games champion, where he set a world junior record and was named the most outstanding athlete of the Games, and won the prestigious Viscount Alexander Award as Canada’s most outstanding junior athlete in 1973. Olsen went on to set numerous school and provincial records, and in 1975 he set his British Columbia high school mark which still stood at the time of his death. An 11-time Canadian champion, Olsen attended the University of Tennessee becoming an NCAA champion and four-time All-American, and once threw a football 100 yards at a college football half-time show in front of 75,000 fans.

Retiring in his prime at the age of 28 in 1985, for more than 30 years Olsen pursued a career in teaching, where he was dedicated to being a role model for his students and making a huge impact on their lives. He spent the rest of his life staying involved in physical fitness and living a healthy lifestyle. In 1994, Olsen was named Canada’s greatest javelin thrower in history by a panel of Canadian sports writers. Along with two-time Olympian basketball player Gerald Kazanowski and Olympic double gold medallist rower Brenda Taylor, Olsen was one of the first three charter athletics inducted into the Nanaimo Sports Hall of Fame when it opened in 2008.Olsen was born, raised and died (of a massive coronary heart attack at age 63 while out collecting firewood) in his hometown of Nanaimo, British Columbia.

Personal Best: JT – 87.76 (1976).