David Lorne Steen (born 2 January 1942)Dave Steen
Track and Field Brinkster. Retrieved on 2015-04-03. is a Canadian former track and field athlete who specialised in the

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

. He was a two-time gold medallist in the event at the Commonwealth Games in 1966 and 1970, breaking games records both times. He had won the bronze medal at the 1962 event. His personal record was , set in 1970. He was a nine-time national champion in throwing events at the Canadian Track and Field Championships. Also among his honours were a shot put bronze at the

1967 Pan American Games The 1967 Pan American Games were held in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, from July 23 to August 6, 1967. Winnipeg was chosen as host of the Pan American Games on its second try. It first bid for the 1963 Games at the 1959 PASO meeting in Chicago ...

and two bronze medals in the shot and discus at the

1969 Pacific Conference Games The 1969 Pacific Conference Games was the first edition of the international athletics competition between five Pacific coast nations: Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and the United States. It was held from 26–27 September at the Nationa ...

. He was coached by

Bill Bowerman William Jay Bowerman (February 19, 1911 – December 24, 1999) was an American track and field coach and co-founder of Nike, Inc. Over his career, he trained 31 Olympic athletes, 51 All-Americans, 12 American record-holders, 22 NCAA champio ...

within the Oregon Ducks track and field program and was part of the winning team for the 1962 American collegiate NCAA title.

Career

Early life

A native of Burnaby, British Columbia, he became interested in athletics through the exploits of his older brother

Don Steen Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

, who became the national

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in Athletics (sport), athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek language, Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ...

champion in 1955.How the Fitness Council Helps Canadian Sport
''Ottawa Citizen Weekend Magazine'', no.43, p.64. Retrieved on 2015-04-03. - Oct 20, 1966 His brother later named his son David Steen, who continued the family's athletic tradition. He had his first achievements in the shot put while at Douglas Road Elementary School in Burnaby, winning the school title at age eleven. At

Burnaby South Secondary School Burnaby South Secondary is a public high school in Burnaby, British Columbia, and it serves the South Slope, Burnaby neighbourhood, and Southern Burnaby. It is one of the eight high schools within School District 41 Burnaby. Burnaby South curr ...

he established himself as one of Canada's best young throwers by setting a national age-group record in the shot put.Burnaby Sports Hall of Fame 2002
Burnaby Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved on 2015-04-03. Steen grew to be a tall man, at six-foot and four and a half inches, and as his physique developed he reached a weight of 235 pounds. He went on to study at the University of Oregon, where he became part of the Oregon Ducks track and field led by coach

. A central team member in the throw events, Steen placed fifth at the

NCAA Men's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships The NCAA Division I Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship is an annual collegiate outdoor track and field competition for men organised by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Athlete's individual performances earn points for ...

in 1962 and competed in the preliminaries of the discus throw. His contribution helped Oregon to the NCAA team title. The following year he had his best placing in NCAA competition, coming second in the shot put final.

International career

Steen won his first national title as a teenager in 1960, winning the hammer throw, which was not very developed at a national level at that point. His first national title in the shot put came at the Canadian Track and Field Championships in 1962. His winning mark of was by far the best ever performance in the competition's history at that point.Canadian Championships
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2015-04-03. This earned him his first major international call-up for the

1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Perth, Australia, from 22 November to 1 December 1962. Athletic events were held at Perry Lakes Stadium in the suburb of Floreat and swimming events at Beatty Park in North Perth. The ...

, held in Perth, Western Australia. There he had a throw of , which would have won all previous titles but on this occasion was a close third behind

Martyn Lucking Martyn Taylor Lucking (born 24 March 1938 in Leigh-on-Sea) is a British former shot putter. Athletics career Lucking competed in the 1960 Summer Olympics and in the 1964 Summer Olympics. He topped the podium for England at the 1962 British Emp ...

and Mike Lindsay.Commonwealth Games
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2015-04-03. In the 1963 track and field season he achieved a Canadian record of , having previously become the first Canadian to throw sixty feet, achieved earlier that year in a Portland, Oregon meet where he defeated Parry O'Brien a two-time Olympic champion and world record holder. For a few weeks in 1963 Steen's top throw was ranked first in the world; he finished the year seventh globally. He was among Canada's top prospects for the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this ho ...

, but in 1963 he criticized the attitude of officials at the Canadian Amateur Athletic Union, saying that they were not sufficiently concerned with the well-being of the nation's athletes.Kollins, Rick (1963-10-11)
Fistaminations for a Quiet Wednesday
''The Varsity Toronto'', vol. 83, no. 8. Retrieved on 2015-04-03. Suffering heavily from infectious mononucleosis, he ultimately missed the entire 1964 season, including the Olympic competition. Steen returned to form in 1965 with a second career title at the Canadian Championships and a season's best of . He also won his first national title in the discus throw, doing so with . The following year he set a new shot put personal best of to win the Canadian title in a championship record. This mark ranked him eleventh in the world that season and went unbettered nationally until Bruce Pirnie's 1972 win. The

1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Kingston, Jamaica, from 4 to 13 August 1966. This was the first time that the Games had been held outside the so-called White Dominions. They were followed by the 1966 Commonwealth P ...

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley Inter ...

saw Steen became Canada's first ever shot put gold medallist at the competition. His winning throw of was a large improvement on the

Commonwealth Games record Commonwealth Games records are the best performances in a specific edition of the event's history. As the Commonwealth Games only accepts athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, the records are not considered as prestigious as World records ...

set by Lucking four years earlier. In addition to the shot put, he competed in the discus event and placed fourth. He took a shot put and discus double at the 1967 national championships and his best throw that year was . He came close to that seasonal peak at the

, which were held on home turf in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He was the bronze medallist behind two Americans who were world leaders at that point:

Randy Matson James Randel "Randy" Matson (born March 5, 1945) is an American track and field athlete who mostly competed in the shot put. Matson won a silver medal at the 1964 and a gold medal at the 1968 Olympics. Early years The son of Charles and Ellen M ...

, who was Olympic champion the year after, and Neal Steinhauer, the top ranked putter in 1969. Steen's 1967 medal was Canada's first in the Pan American men's shot put (his compatriot

Nancy McCredie Nancy McCredie (February 5, 1945 – May 1, 2021) was a Canadian female track and field athlete. During her athletic career, she won three gold medals at the Pan American Games and one bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games. McCredie was awarde ...

won the women shot that year). Steen was Canadian champion in the shot put in both 1968 and 1969, solidifying an unbeaten run from 1965. The latter title was his last at national level. He was selected for the Canadian team for the inaugural

and a performance of in the shot put and in the discus brought him two bronze medals. His teammate

George Puce George Puce ( lv, Juris Pūce: born December 29, 1940, in Jelgava) is a retired discus thrower, who represented Canada at the 1968 Summer Olympics. He won the bronze medal in the men's discus throw event at the 1967 Pan American Games The 19 ...

was the discus winner at the event in Tokyo. He returned to defend his shot put title at the

1970 British Commonwealth Games The 1970 British Commonwealth Games (Scottish Gaelic: Geamannan a 'Cho-fhlaitheis Bhreatainn 1970) were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, from 16 to 25 July 1970. This was the first time the name British Commonwealth Games was adopted, the first tim ...

. The 28-year-old successfully topped the podium again, winning the gold medal with a new games record (and lifetime best) of . He was the first man to defend that title since Harry Hart did so in 1934. He again competed in the discus throw as well, and ranked tenth with a mark of . This was the last major competition of his career. He was inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 1977.Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame Members
Olympic Canada. Retrieved on 2015-04-03.

Writing and coaching

After his retirement from competition he began coaching young athletes in the 1970s. This included novelist

Lawrence Hill Lawrence Hill (born January 24, 1957) is a Canadian novelist, essayist, and memoirist. He is known for his 2007 novel '' The Book of Negroes,'' inspired by the Black Loyalists given freedom and resettled in Nova Scotia by the British after the A ...

—a keen teenage runner—whom Steen advised to focus on writing after a poor outcome of a fitness test. His athletes also included three Olympians - John Craig, Paul Craig, and Brian Maxwell. Maxwell went on to be the co-inventor of Power Bars.Hill, Lawrence (2014).
Blood: A Biography of the Stuff of Life
', p. 72. Oneworld Publications. Retrieved on 2015-04-03. Steen himself wrote several books, including the ''Canadian Pilot's Fitness Manual'' in 1979 before moving into

youth sport Youth sports is any sports event where competitors are younger than adult age, whether children or adolescents. Youth sports includes school sports at primary school, primary and secondary school, secondary level, as well as sports played outsid ...

with ''Aerobic fun for kids'' in 1982 and ''Exercise is fun'' a decade later.Steen, David 1942-
World Cat. Retrieved on 2015-04-03. He was a writer/editor for the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'' ''from 1968 to 1994''. David was married on Feb 25, 1967 in Toronto to Cassie Gairdner, a former Eastern Canadian junior champion discus thrower, (introduced to him by his then teammate, Cassie’s brother, William Gairdner, Olympic decathlete).They had 3 children: Laura Jane, Heather and Stefan. In 1996 David moved back to British Columbia to live by the ocean, write and become one of Canada’s top senior cyclists. In 2022 he published his first novel ''A Bicycle Story'', a mystery and romantic tale that draws on his deep interest in philosophy and sports psychology and politics.

International competitions

National titles

* Canadian Track and Field Championships **Shot put: 1962, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969 **Discus throw: 1965, 1967 **Hammer throw: 1960

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steen, Dave Living people 1942 births Sportspeople from Burnaby Canadian male shot putters Canadian male discus throwers Oregon Ducks men's track and field athletes Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Canada Athletes (track and field) at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 1967 Pan American Games Canadian newspaper journalists Canadian male journalists Canadian sports journalists Toronto Star people Canadian exercise and fitness writers Pan American Games bronze medalists for Canada Medalists at the 1967 Pan American Games Medallists at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games