WILF WEDMANN'S OBITUARY 

BURNABY – Wilf Wedmann, Simon Fraser University's first Olympian and Rhodes Scholar, who served as director of athletics and recreation in the early 2000s and drove unprecedented facilities expansion during his tenure, has passed away. He was 73.

Born April 17, 1948, Wedmann spent his lifetime around coaches and athletes after success as a Canadian high jumper. He held many positions with different sport organizations during his working life, including head of Athletics Canada, but it was at SFU where he really made a mark.

Wedmann was responsible for encouraging university leadership to invest in new facilities. The current fitness center and West Gym were his inspiration. Wedmann also worked with the university, City of Burnaby and Vancouver 2010 Olympic bid officials to bring the Olympic Oval to Burnaby Mountain, but it was ultimately built in Richmond. 

Wedmann endeared himself to alumni as well and he was responsible for naming the Burnaby campus pool after legendary swim and dive coaches, Margaret and Paul Savage.

"He was an intelligent and articulate man who was immersed in the athletics scene in Canada for decades," remembered current SFU Track and Field Head Coach, Brit Townsend. "As athletic director at SFU he was strong in his conviction and from my own experience supported the coaches and the athletes in their goals and aspirations. He wanted the student-athletes to have a transformational experience during their time as a student, much in the same way that he did when he attended SFU."

"We are grateful for Wilf's time, energy and contributions to the department during his tenure at SFU," said Senior Director of Athletics and Recreation, Theresa Hanson.  "Our condolences go out to his family and friends at this difficult time."

In 1968, as a sophomore high jumper, Wedmann became SFU's first Olympian. That moment was chosen one of the 50 Greatest Moments in SFU Athletics history during the university's 50^th anniversary celebrations.

As a tall and athletic kid from South Vancouver, Wedmann believed it was "just another track meet" when he qualified for the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City as a 20-year-old SFU student. He shared those memories with this writer back in 2004 while talking about the power of sport.

First impressions can be deceiving. Wedmann didn't leave the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City with a medal— he left with a whole lot more.

It was a time when the Olympics were an internal stage for political and social expression, and Wedmann had a front row seat, eyes wide open. "I remember Tommy Smith and John Carlos raising black-gloved hands on the medal podium, I remember trying to calculate in my head Bob Beamon's world record leap in the long jump and I remember watching armoured tanks racing through the streets one night while we ate dinner," Wedmann recalled 35 years later. "I was a jock up until then but those games radicalized me. Suddenly, I was conscious of the broader social issues of sport."

Smith and Carlos' black power salute was one of the most powerful and controversial moments in sports, a watershed event in the civil rights movement in the United States. Bob Beamon broke the world long jump record by almost two feet (55 centimetres), and newspapers reported over 300 were killed during student protests at the University of Mexico during the Olympic fortnight.

Wedmann returned to Simon Fraser for his third year, set the university high jump record of 2.10 metres in 1970 that still stands today, won a silver medal in high jump at the 1971 Pan American Games and eventually left for Oxford to become a Rhodes Scholar.

"Those Games were a catalyst in my evolution," Wedmann said once. "From that point on I have looked at sport from a difference perspective."

A small service will be held for family and close friends on Tues, Dec 7th, 2021, 11:00am at Victory Memorial Park, 14831 28th Ave, Surrey.
Donations in memory of Wilf may be made to the Heart & Stroke Foundation (heartandstroke.ca).
 
Service
Tuesday December 07, 2021
11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
 
Victory Memorial Park
14831 28 Avenue, Surrey, BC, Canada
 

--@SFU_Athletics--