Province Writer Ewen Honored Along with the Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2021 BC

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On Thursday morning, 12 more legendary figures were inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame.

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There was Gino Odjick, the one of fame for the Vancouver Canucks. The great football Dale Mitchell. Former Olympic sports journalist and current Karin Larsen.

On Thursday night, Vancouver province scribe Steve Ewen joined what he called “the billboard,” joining five others as recipients of the Eric Whitehead Inspired Service Award. In his fourth year of being an award winner, he was named after the province’s former sports editor and columnist, who was instrumental in founding the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame.

In 2010, Ewen was diagnosed with a solitary plasmacytoma., a type of blood cancer, that requires two rods and 15 screws inserted into his back and neck. In a six-month stay in the hospital, he had eight back surgeries, leaving his spine fused from his neck to the middle of his back. The cancer returned in 2017, when he underwent a stem cell transplant.

He continued to work through his long battle with cancer, covering the entire sports spectrum for the newspaper for nearly 30 years.

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“I think every time people recognize newspapers, it is important to us at this stage,” he said with a smile. “And I think it is also important because of the fact that I am a great admirer of the doctors in this province.

“As much as we’ve been through this ordeal, I think everyone we’ve dealt with has just been an absolute star, and it has given me confidence.” To get over the things we’ve had to go through”He said, adding that his wife Carol-Ann has been a rock star through it all.

“Everyone I have come across has just found that person who is good at their job. It is inspiring. It’s inspiring, especially when you look at what they’re going through now (with COVID-19). “

The 2021 Hall of Fame class also includes:

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ATHLETES

• Jason Delesalle, For Athletics: He won pentathlon gold at Atlanta 1996 with a record 3,050 points and a bronze on discus. He also represented Canada in Barcelona (1992) and Sydney (2000).

• Gerry Gilmore, Field Hockey / Basketball / Softball: One of the best BC athletes of the 1950s and 1960s, competing nationally and internationally in all three sports.

• Eli Pasquale, basketball: Member of the Canadian men’s basketball team from 1981 to 1997. He played for Canada in two Olympics, helping Canada finish fourth in 1984 and sixth in 1988.

• Judy Broom, field hockey: Considered the heart of Field Hockey BC and the BC Women’s Field Hockey Federation for over 30 years with tireless service and contributions as a player, volunteer, manager and supporter.

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• Dr. David Cox, Sports Psychology: An internationally recognized sports psychologist who has worked with dozens of elite Canadian athletes over the past four decades.

• Kelly Mann, multisport: The driving force behind the BC Games Society for over 25 years.

• Vancouver Firefighters Men’s Soccer, 1961-62: The first Canadian team to win the Kennedy Cup, an international championship featuring the best teams from the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

PIONEER

• Gene Kiniski “bad”, wrestling: A professional wrestler for more than five decades, there was a period when he was probably BC’s best known international celebrity beyond the world of sports.

MEDIA

• Karin Larsen: After an excellent career as one of Canada’s top synchronized swimmers in the 1980s, she pioneered a path as a woman in sports journalism, with a 30-year career as an award-winning broadcaster and writer.

WAC BENNETT AWARD

• Ron Jones: A key figure in the history of the BC Lions and the BC Sports Hall of Fame.