Gérard Côté, (July 26, 1913 – 12 June 1993) was a Canadian marathon runner and a four-time winner of the Boston Marathon. Born in Saint-Barnabé-Sud,

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Côté was training to be a boxer when he switched to running marathons. He competed in his first Boston Marathon in 1936 and won the race in 1940, 1943, 1944, and 1948. He set a new course record with his 1940 victory, and was awarded the

Lou Marsh Trophy The Northern Star Award, formerly known as the Lou Marsh Trophy, the Lou Marsh Memorial Trophy and Lou Marsh Award, is a trophy that is awarded annually to Canada's top athlete, professional or amateur. It is awarded by a panel of journalists, wi ...

as Canada's top athlete of the year. Côté was the first francophone recipient of the award. Côté was also a three-time winner of the Yonkers Marathon and won three U.S.

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

marathon championships. In 264 races over his career, Côté won 112 with 56 second-place finishes. He competed at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

but leg cramps held him to a 17th-place finish. He was a member of the Canadian teams at the

1950 British Empire Games The 1950 British Empire Games was the fourth staging of what is now called the Commonwealth Games. It was held in Auckland, New Zealand between 4 and 11 February 1950, after a 12-year gap from the third edition of the games. The main venue was ...

and the

1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

. Côté retired from running in 1956. Côté has been inducted into the

Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame The Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame is an honour roll of the top Canadian Olympic athletes, teams, coaches, and builders (officials, administrators, and volunteers). It was established in 1949. Selections are made by a committee appointed by the Cana ...

(1955) and Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (1956). In 1989, he was made a Knight of the

National Order of Quebec The National Order of Quebec, termed officially in French as ''l'Ordre national du Québec'', and in English abbreviation as the Order of Quebec, is an order of merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Governo ...

and in 1990, he was made a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

. Côté died in

Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec Saint-Hyacinthe (; French: ) is a city in southwestern Quebec east of Montreal on the Yamaska River. The population as of the 2021 Canadian census was 57,239. The city is located in Les Maskoutains Regional County Municipality of the Montér� ...

at age 79.

References

External links

Côté biography by David Blaikie

Gérard Côté
at

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available f ...

National Order of Quebec citation
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archive
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cote, Gerard 1913 births 1993 deaths Knights of the National Order of Quebec Lou Marsh Trophy winners Canadian male marathon runners Members of the Order of Canada Olympic track and field athletes of Canada Sportspeople from Quebec French Quebecers Boston Marathon male winners Athletes (track and field) at the 1948 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games competitors for Canada Athletes (track and field) at the 1950 British Empire Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games

See also

References

Further reading

External links