Don Jackson- Minto Skating Club
Don
Jackson, who is currently the Executive Director of Skating
and an Honorary Life Member of the Minto Skating Club, has
been an integral part of international figure skating and
continues to be an ambassador for Canadian amateur
sport. In 1954,
Jackson was recognized by the Minto Skating Club as a
promising, young skater and was invited to train with the
Ottawa club after it was discovered that he was planning on
training in England. For four years, Jackson represented the
Minto Skating Club and in Jan. 1955, he won a gold medal at
the Canadian Men\'s junior championships. In Mar. 1956,
Jackson won the silver at the Canadian Men\'s senior
championships. Jackson\'s
fondest memories of his figure skating career are his bronze
medal at the 1960 Olympics in Squaw Valley, California and
winning the gold medal in the 1962 World Championships in
Prague, Czechoslovakia. At the World Championships, Jackson
became the first person to ever land the triple lutz (which
wasn\'t duplicated for 12 years), the first Canadian in this
century to win this title and the first person to ever receive
seven perfect marks for free skating (this hasn\'t been
equalled or bettered before or
since). While Jackson said
that it would\'ve been nice to remain an amateur athlete until
the 1964 Olympics, there wasn\'t any money available at the
time to fund his career.
Jackson has since returned to the Minto Skating Club and has
been the Executive Director of Skating for the past 17 years.
While Jackson occasionally coaches young figure skaters in
conjunction with other coaches at the club, he still keeps
busy by skating and loving every minute of it. Since
1998, Jackson has been actively involved in the Oldtimer\'s
Hockey Challenge where he is on a “Dream Team” with some of
hockey\'s greatest legends, such as Guy Lafleur and Bobby
Hull. This “Dream Team” travels all over Canada and the United
States challenging local police and fire departments in
charity hockey games with all proceeds going to the Special
Olympics fund.
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