Don Pettie

The peak of Canadian Don Pettie’s athletic career came in the second half of the 1940s and began in earnest while he was a student at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. In 1948 he attempted to make the Canadian delegation to that year’s Summer Olympics in both the 100 and 200 metre events and was successful in the later case, also being chosen as a member of the 4 x 100 metre relay team. In the 200, he was eliminated in the opening round after coming in third in a heat won by upcoming bronze medalist Lloyd LaBeach of Panama. In the relay, Pettie, alongside Don McFarlane, Jimmy O’Brien, and Ted Haggis, placed fifth among 15 nations.

Pettie had more luck in subsequent years and became the Canadian champion in both the 100 and 200 metre distances in 1949. In 1950 he won a bronze medal in the 100 yard event at that year’s British Empire Games, and finished fifth in the 220 yards and the 4x400 yards relay (with Comer “Bill” Parnell, Jack Hutchins, and Bill Larochelle). He retired from active competition shortly thereafter and used his business degree from Drake to enter the oil industry, where he spent his entire career until his 1992 retirement. In 2009 he was named a Drake Relay Athlete of the Century.

Personal Bests: 100 – 10.9 (1948); 200 – 21.4 (1950).