The City of Toronto held its third annual Toronto Sport Hall of Honour induction ceremony on April 27 at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, with the University of Toronto’s Bruce Kidd and Vicky Sunohara among the new inductees.
Kidd is vice-president and principal of University of Toronto Scarborough. A former Olympian, he has written extensively about the politics of sport. He was inducted into Toronto's Sport Hall of Honour in the category of builder for his contributions to the development of many Toronto facilities, including the Athletic Centre and Varsity Centre at the University of Toronto.
“This is a wonderful honour and it was very special to receive this recognition in the Toronto Pan American Sports Centre at UTSC,” says Kidd. “I’ve spent my life in Toronto sport, so it’s especially gratifying to be recognized for my contributions to it.”
Sunohara played hockey for Varsity Blues and went on to become a three-time Olympic medalist at the 1998, 2002 and 2006 Winter Olympics. For seven years, she served as an assistant captain of Team Canada, returning to U of T in 2011 to serve as the head coach of the Blues women’s hockey team. She was inducted in the category of sport legends.
Varsity Blues head coach for women's hockey Vicky Sunohara was inducted into the Toronto Sport Hall of Honour in the category of sport legend
In a press release issued by the City of Toronto, Mayor John Tory said the achievements of the inductees inspire Torontonians of all ages to get active in our city. "The sport community has made tremendous contributions of all kinds to the social fabric of Toronto over the years and I'm glad to see this recognized today."
“This honour recognizes the tremendous contributions that Vicky and Bruce have made to the City of Toronto through sport. We are so proud to have them as our colleagues and on behalf of the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education I extend very sincere congratulations to both of them,” said Professor Ira Jacobs, dean of KPE.
These are this year's Toronto Sport Hall of Honour inductees in each of 10 categories:
Athletes of the Year: Penny Oleksiak and Andre De Grasse
Para-Athlete of the Year: Marissa Papaconstantinou
Special Olympics Athletes of the Year: Gohulan Rajalingam and Jeffrey Steiman
Team of the Year: Canadian Women's Olympic 4x100m Swim Relay Team
Coach of the Year: Ben Titley
Builder: Bruce Kidd
Corporate Builder: MLSE Foundation
Sport Legends: Tom Longboat, Cindy Nicholas and Vicky Sunohara
Spirit of Sport: Justine Blainey-Broker
City of Sport Lifetime Achievement: David Ross
The Toronto Sport Hall of Honour is a legacy initiative of the City of Toronto's Host City Showcase Program from the Toronto 2015 Pan Am and Parapan Am Games.