Jack McCulloch
Encyclopedia
Jack McCulloch was a Canadian
speed skater and ice hockey
player. He won several Canadian amateur speed skating championships and one world championship.ex
finished in a dead heat, forcing a run-off. McCulloch won by two-fifths of a second.
In 1889, McCulloch helped found the Winnipeg Victorias
hockey club, one of the first in western Canada. He participated in the first organized ice hockey game in Manitoba, and played for the hockey club for several years afterward.
During the 1880’s, Manitoba athletes first achieved national and international recognition and one of the most outstanding athletes of that era was J.K. (Jack) McCulloch. McCulloch became one of Winnipeg’s most prominent sportsmen. A multi-talented athlete, McCulloch excelled in many sports, among which were roller skating, track and field, rowing, canoeing, figure skating, and gymnastics. As a cyclist, McCulloch was dominant in the early 1890’s and held the fastest Canadian times at two distances in 1895. McCulloch was also an original member of the Winnipeg Victorias, founded in 1890 as the first hockey club on the prairies, that later challenged for the Stanley Cup. The Victorias won the Cup in 1896 and 1901, the only Manitoba teams to accomplish that feat.
McCulloch was most famous for his speed skating ability. A Manitoba champion in 1890, McCulloch won the Canadian amateur title in 1893 and the American amateur crown in 1896. That same year, he held the distinction of being the only man to have ever held both the Canadian and American championship at every distance. In 1897, McCulloch reached the pinnacle of his career as he won four events at the world amateur championship meet in Montreal, Quebec. After turning professional in 1898, McCulloch travelled across North America and gave exhibitions in trick skating or competed in speed and figure skating until 1907.
McCulloch’s knowledge of equipment led him to manufacture bicycles and skates and, by the turn of the century, his innovative tube skate gained widespread popularity among top hockey players in Canada and the United States. McCulloch and his business partner “Jimmy” Boswell were among Winnipeg’s first automobile enthusiasts and were involved in auto sales, repairs, and racing by 1904. McCulloch died in 1918 but his outstanding achievements as an athlete were still recognized with his induction into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1960.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
speed skater and ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
player. He won several Canadian amateur speed skating championships and one world championship.ex
Sports career
An amateur skater from 1890 to 1898, during which time he was the dominant speed skater in Canada. In the 1897 world championships in Montreal in the 1,500-meter race, he and Alfred NaessAlfred Naess
Karl Alfred Ingvald Næss was a Norwegian speedskater. He set the men's world record for 500 meter speed skating on February 5, 1893 at 49.4 seconds in Hamar, Norway. He then broke his own world record 21 days later on February 26, 1893 at 48.0 seconds, then lowered it to 47.0 seconds on February...
finished in a dead heat, forcing a run-off. McCulloch won by two-fifths of a second.
In 1889, McCulloch helped found the Winnipeg Victorias
Winnipeg Victorias
The Winnipeg Victorias were a former amateur senior-level men's amateur ice hockey team in Winnipeg, Manitoba, organized in 1889. They played in the Manitoba Hockey Association in the late 19th and early 20th centuries...
hockey club, one of the first in western Canada. He participated in the first organized ice hockey game in Manitoba, and played for the hockey club for several years afterward.
During the 1880’s, Manitoba athletes first achieved national and international recognition and one of the most outstanding athletes of that era was J.K. (Jack) McCulloch. McCulloch became one of Winnipeg’s most prominent sportsmen. A multi-talented athlete, McCulloch excelled in many sports, among which were roller skating, track and field, rowing, canoeing, figure skating, and gymnastics. As a cyclist, McCulloch was dominant in the early 1890’s and held the fastest Canadian times at two distances in 1895. McCulloch was also an original member of the Winnipeg Victorias, founded in 1890 as the first hockey club on the prairies, that later challenged for the Stanley Cup. The Victorias won the Cup in 1896 and 1901, the only Manitoba teams to accomplish that feat.
McCulloch was most famous for his speed skating ability. A Manitoba champion in 1890, McCulloch won the Canadian amateur title in 1893 and the American amateur crown in 1896. That same year, he held the distinction of being the only man to have ever held both the Canadian and American championship at every distance. In 1897, McCulloch reached the pinnacle of his career as he won four events at the world amateur championship meet in Montreal, Quebec. After turning professional in 1898, McCulloch travelled across North America and gave exhibitions in trick skating or competed in speed and figure skating until 1907.
McCulloch’s knowledge of equipment led him to manufacture bicycles and skates and, by the turn of the century, his innovative tube skate gained widespread popularity among top hockey players in Canada and the United States. McCulloch and his business partner “Jimmy” Boswell were among Winnipeg’s first automobile enthusiasts and were involved in auto sales, repairs, and racing by 1904. McCulloch died in 1918 but his outstanding achievements as an athlete were still recognized with his induction into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1960.
External links
- Jack McCulloch at Canada's Sports Hall of FameCanada's Sports Hall of FameCanada's Sports Hall of Fame is a hall of fame established in 1955 to "preserve the record of Canadian sports achievements and to promote a greater awareness of Canada's heritage of sport." It is located at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, Alberta...