Cycling Canada announces 2017’s inductees to the Canadian Cycling Hall of Fame

Stevie Smith one of four to be honoured in upcoming celebration

Todd Aalgaard July 27, 2017

Two years after its inception, Cycling Canada has announced the 2017 inductees for the Canadian Cycling Hall of fame, recognizing outstanding contributions to the development of Canadian cycling—whether as athletes or builders.

In its first two years, sixteen members have been inducted to the Hall of Fame—fourteen athletes and two builders—between 2015 and 2016.

This year, three athletes and one builder will be added to their ranks, recognizing an impact on the development of Canadian cycling that, like others, has been essential and formative. Those inductees will be honoured at the Rattlesnake Point Golf Club in Milton, Ont. on Oct. 1, an event happening in conjunction with the Canadian track championships.

Gary Longhi, paracyclist and multiple Olympian, took gold in the individual time trial and bronze in the road race at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, accolades that came on the heels of his 1992 Olympic silver in the ITT in Barcelona. At the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney, Australia, Longhi was also the flag bearer for the Canadian paralympic team.

Albert Schelstraete-Coulier is recognized in 2017 as a builder thanks to several leading roles he played: as president of the Canadian Wheelmen’s Association from 1952 to 1957, president of the Canadian Cycling Association from 1972 to 1974, and in the interim, for having built several Canadian velodromes, including the Delhi, Ont., velodrome in 1939.

Karen Strong blazed a trail for many of Canada’s top road specialists during her career, something for which she’s recognized this year by her induction into the Cycling Hall of Fame. The first Canadian woman to win podium spots at the road world championships, her bronze win in 1977, followed by silver in 1979, opened the door for future Canadian success stories in the discipline. Several international podiums followed, along with generally dominating the Canadian road cycling championships between 1975 and 1982, before becoming Canada’s first full-time women’s cycling coach.

Finally, Steve Smith, “the Canadian Chainsaw,” will be honoured posthumously this year following his tragic death due to a motocross accident in May 2016. Immortalized as a legend in the downhill scene, Smith took the world championship in 2013 and gold in Mont-Sainte-Anne the same year. His gilded stature established, Smith bounced back from two years beset by injury in 2016 to take the World Cup podium in Lourdes, France—launching his final season in characteristically glorious form.

The Canadian Cycling Hall of Fame celebrations will take place on Oct. 1 at Rattlesnake Point Golf Club in Milton, Ont., along with the second annual, fully supported Ride with Legends in Halton Hills, followed by the induction luncheon itself.