A self-described sports junkie. Two-time Canadian Olympic sprinter. Visionary leader. Influential sport builder.
Peter Ogilvie, who wanted unheralded track and field athletes to realize a dream and compete against the world’s best, died from cancer last week. He was 52.
The Vancouver-born athlete competed in the 200 metres at the Olympics in 1992 (Barcelona) and 1996 (Atlanta). Ogilvie captured a silver medal in the 4x100m relay at the 1991 Pan Am Games in Havana and gold in the event three years later at the 1994 Francophone Games in Paris.
He also represented Canada at the world junior championships, world championships, Pan Am junior championships and Commonwealth Games.
Off the track, Ogilvie was an entrepreneur, involved in many aspects of athletics.
He was executive director of Athletics Alberta for over 10 years and brought major events to Edmonton, including the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic selection trials.
The driving force behind TrackTown Canada, he established the annual TrackTown Classic at Foote Field in Edmonton, one of the first meets in what is now known as the National Track and Field Tour.
For the 2015 TrackTown Classic, Ogilvie garnered attention when he secured U.S. sprint star Allyson Felix, who had won 16 medals, including 12 gold, at three Summer Olympics and five outdoor worlds.
Brian Torrance, executive director of Ever Active Schools in Alberta, described Ogilvie as a kind and caring person in a post Tuesday evening on X.
Edmonton meet part of Continental Tour
“Peter was a big contributor of sport and tourism in [Edmonton]. He stayed incredibly positive in his battle with cancer,” Torrance wrote of Ogilvie, a City of Edmonton Sports Hall of Fame member.
Thanks in part of Ogilvie’s efforts, Canadian athletes have a chance to compete at home while striving to qualify for major international events.
The Edmonton Athletics Invitational meet is one of the few Canadian competitions to be feature on the World Athletics Continental Tour.
Ogilvie also helped organize the first amalgamated Canadian Track and Field Championships, which combined junior, senior and Para athletics at one event.
Beyond athletics, Ogilvie was interim executive director for Tennis Alberta in 2018.
“Peter is a dedicated and proven sport leader who thrives at finding solutions to develop, promote and empower sport programming,” Tennis Alberta president Daniel Skepple said at the time.
Kris Mychasiw, a Canadian sports marketing and sponsorship consultant, also took to social media on Tuesday and recalled speaking engagements with Ogilvie.
“The best conversations weren’t the ones in front of a crowd,” Mychasiw said, “but the ones we shared afterward.”
Ogilvie, who also lived in North Vancouver, B.C., leaves behind his wife Cathy and son Noah.
