Encouraged by his brother Vic, John Emery joined in the founding of the Laurentian Bobsledding Association in 1957, but had a long history of athletics prior to this. From an early age he competed in track and field, boxing and skiing and excelled in all of them before taking up bobsledding. Practice was difficult, because the Canadian Olympic Committee refused to acknowledge the sport for many years, even refusing to send a bobsled team to the 1960 Winter Olympics due a perceived lack of interest. Thus, the Emery brothers were forced to practice in Lake Placid, New York and practice starts in dry gymnasiums. At Innsbruck, they only had four practice runs, far less than other teams who had been testing the run for weeks, but nevertheless won the gold at those 1964 Winter Games.
A doctor by trade, Emery later became a well-known plastic surgeon in San Francisco before retiring. He remained active in athletics, running the Boston Marathon in 1979 and participating in the Ironman Triathlon the following year. He later lived on a ranch in Sonoma, California, where he has launched his own wine label. Emery is a member of the Canada Sports Hall of Fame, as well as the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame.
Canada