The James Worrall Collection

James Worrall (1916-2011) competed for McGill University in track and field during his collegiate career, and earned a place on Canada''s national team for the Berlin 1936 Summer Olympics. He was the Canadian team''s flag bearer at opening ceremonies for the 1936 Games, and competed in both hurdling events.

 He went on to practice law in Toronto and put forth a lifetime of work in favor of the Canadian Olympic cause. Four times he served as a Chef de Mission for Team Canada at the Olympic Games, 1948, 1952, 1956 and 1960. From 1961 to 1968, Worrall was the president of the Canadian Olympic Association (now Committee) and from 1967 to 1989 he was a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Worrall was the first Canadian to be appointed to the IOC Executive Board in 1974. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the organizing committees for the Montreal 1976 Summer Olympics and the Calgary 1988 Winter Olympics, For his lifelong contributions to Canadian and global sports, Worrall was made an honourary member of both the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) and the IOC, an officer of the Order of Canada in 1976 (Canada''s highest civilian honour) and was inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 1965 and Canada''s Sports Hall of Fame in 1987. In 1990, Juan-Antonio Samaranch honored him with the IOC''s highest honor, the Olympic Order in Silver, and in 1994 he received the Canadian Olympic Order in Gold and was inducted into McGill University Sports Hall of Fame in 1998.

Worrall''s devoted efforts left a lasting imprint on the Olympic movement in Canada and around the globe. His legacy lives on in the James Worrall Flag Bearer Award, presented by Petro-Canada to the flag bearers of Canada''s Olympic and Paralympic teams.