George Orton

{{for|the physician and political figure in Ontario|George Turner Orton}}

{{Infobox sportsperson

|name= George Orton

|image= 150px

|caption=Orton wearing his University of Pennsylvania uniform, 1897

|birth_date= January 10, 1873

|birth_place= Strathroy, Ontario, Canada

| death_date = June 24, 1958 (aged 85)

| death_place = Laconia, New Hampshire, USA

|sport=Athletics

|event= steeplechase

|club= University of Pennsylvania
Toronto Lacrosse and Athletics Association

| show-medals = yes

| medaltemplates =

{{MedalCountry | {{flagicon|USA|1900}} }}

}}

George Washington F. Orton (January 10, 1873 – June 24, 1958) was a Canadian middle and long-distance runner. In 1900, he became the first Canadian to win a medal at an Olympic Games. He won a bronze in the 400 metre hurdles, and then, forty-five minutes later, won the gold medal in the 2500 metre steeplechase.{{cite web |url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/66202 |title=George Orton |work=Olympedia |access-date=22 December 2020 |archive-date=December 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221204125554/https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/66202 |url-status=live }} He was the first athlete with a disability to win an Olympic gold medal. At the University of Pennsylvania, for whom he competed while earning his Masters (MA in 1894) and Doctorate (Ph.D. in 1896) and completed his ability to speak 9 languages,"Wins Fame as a Teacher, Orton, Famous College Athlete to be Headmaster at Banks Business College," Philadelphia Bulletin, June 25, 1905.https://www.guelphhistoricalsociety.ca/archives/historic-guelph/volume-46/the-first-canadian-olympic-champion-george-orton-of-guelph {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230311011731/https://www.guelphhistoricalsociety.ca/archives/historic-guelph/volume-46/the-first-canadian-olympic-champion-george-orton-of-guelph |date=March 11, 2023 }} Greg Oakes, "The First Canadian Olympic Champion: George Orton of Guelph", Guelph Historical Society, Vol. 45, 2002 (updated 2022). he was captain of Penn's track and field team in 1896 and was a founder and captain of its ice hockey team in 1896–1897, and was known as "The Father of Philadelphia Hockey". He won seventeen U.S. National Track and Field titles.

Early life and injury

Orton was born in Strathroy, Ontario, the son of Oliver Henry Orton, a labourer, and his wife, Mary Ann Irvine. Orton was paralyzed when he fell out of a tree at the age of three. The fall caused a blood clot on his brain, and severely damaged his right arm. He was later diagnosed with spinal meningitis. He could not walk until age ten, but fully regained his mobility around age twelve.{{Cite web |url=https://www.guelphhistoricalsociety.ca/archives/historic-guelph/volume-46/the-first-canadian-olympic-champion-george-orton-of-guelph |title=Greg Oakes, "The First Canadian Olympic Champion: George Orton of Guelph", Guelph Historical Society, Vol. 45, 2002 (updated 2022). |access-date=March 11, 2023 |archive-date=March 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230311011731/https://www.guelphhistoricalsociety.ca/archives/historic-guelph/volume-46/the-first-canadian-olympic-champion-george-orton-of-guelph |url-status=live }}

Orton did his undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto, earning a B.A. in 1893 in Romance Languages. He was then offered a scholarship to the University of Pennsylvania in 1893 to complete his Masters (1894) and Ph.D. (1896), at the age of twenty-three.

Running career

By the time he completed his Ph.D., Orton was the top middle-distance runner in the world. He won a then-record seventeen national titles in the United States, along with seven in Canada. Also at the British AAA Championships steepechase event, he won the title at the 1898 AAA Championships.{{cite web |url=https://nuts.org.uk/Champs/AAA/index.htm |title=AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists |website=National Union of Track Statisticians |access-date=30 July 2024 |archive-date=July 23, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240723153750/https://www.nuts.org.uk/Champs/AAA/index.htm |url-status=live }}{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000893/18980704/154/0008 |title=The Amateur Athletic Championships |work=Sporting Life |date=4 July 1898 |via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |access-date=30 July 2024}}

He won the U.S. one-mile championship six times, the two-mile steeplechase seven times, the Cross Country twice, the five-mile run and the ten-mile run. While a student at the University of Toronto in 1892, Orton set a mile record of 4:21.8 which lasted for forty-two years. In total, he won 131 races, including a staggering thirty-three National and International championships.

Olympic gold medal

Orton's competed at the 1900 Summer Olympics, held in Paris, where he represented the United States. He competed in three official Olympic events: two steeplechase competitions and the 400m hurdles. He also competed in several other events that were "handicap" races and not recognized by the IOC. Orton had to give up either time or distance to other runners in these events, because of his success on the track. He won a bronze medal in the 400m hurdles (the last of which was a water jump). Just forty-five minutes later, suffering from an intestinal virus, Orton won the gold medal in the 2500m steeplechase, setting a world record of 7:34.4. The next day, still ill, he placed fifth in the 4000m steeplechase.{{cite web |title=George Orton |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/george-orton |website=The Canadian Encyclopedia |access-date=5 February 2025 |language=en |archive-date=December 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241227232006/https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/george-orton |url-status=live }}{{cite web |title=George Orton |url=https://olympic.ca/team-canada/george-orton/ |website=Canadian Olympic Committee |access-date=5 February 2025 |date=18 September 2011}}{{cite web |last1=Butts |first1=Edward |title=1904 Winnipeg Shamrocks |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/1904-winnipeg-shamrocks |website=The Canadian Encyclopedia |access-date=5 February 2025 |language=en |date=January 25, 2022}}

Father of Philadelphia Hockey

File:University of Pennsylvania Hockey Team 1897.jpg

Orton was known as "The Father of Philadelphia Hockey". He introduced ice hockey to Philadelphians in 1896 while at Penn, and captained the first team there. Citing a lack of a proper facility, Orton was responsible for the building of the first indoor ice arena in Philadelphia, and the popularity of the sport took off from there. Orton founded the Philadelphia Hockey League in 1897, and the following year formed the Quaker City Hockey Club which played in the highly-competitive American Amateur Hockey League. From 1920 to 1922, Orton coached the Penn Varsity hockey team. Years earlier, while attending the University of Toronto, he helped form the first hockey team there, and also played soccer for the 'Varsity' team in the Toronto Football League. Orton was chosen to play on Canada's team that played against a U.S. all-star team from Fall River, Mass. on June 14, 1891. In 1910 he played centre half for the Philadelphia all-stars against the New York all-stars In Haverford, Pennsylvania, and in 1923, at the age of fifty, he was playing soccer for Merchantville in the Philadelphia league. He was a member of the Merion and Belmont Cricket Clubs of Philadelphia, the New York Athletic Club, the Pennsylvania Athletic Club, the University of Pennsylvania Track Club and was the secretary of the Rose Tree Fox Hunting Club of Media, Pa. for forty-three years. Orton was also a member of the American Academy of Poets, and spoke nine languages fluently.

Track coach

Orton took part in the first Penn Relay Carnival in 1895, and later became the track coach at Penn, taking over after the death of Mike Murphy. He wrote the definitive training manual for runners, "Distance and Cross Country Running" in 1903, and also wrote a book about the history of Penn Athletics. He was the manager of the Penn Relays from 1919 to 1925, and helped nurture the event in its early years, making it the greatest annual track and field competition in the world. He was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame and the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame, as well as the University of Pennsylvania Hall of Fame and the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame. His other books included the Bob Hunt series aimed at young men or boys who enjoy the outdoors. In 1903, Orton co-founded Camp Tecumseh, in Meredith, New Hampshire. A decade later, he founded Camp Iroquois, the first overnight athletic camp for girls and young women.

Orton was competitive in soccer (football) and became a writer on sports and running.{{Cite web |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/george-orton |title="George Orton", by J. Thomas West, The Canadian Encyclopedia, (published online June 12, 2012; edited March 4, 2015). |access-date=December 17, 2020 |archive-date=December 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241227232006/https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/george-orton |url-status=live }} In 1911 Orton teamed up with Thomas Cahill to write a guide to association football, or soccer.{{Cite web |url=https://collections.carli.illinois.edu/digital/collection/sie_soccer/id/866 |title=George W. Orton and Thomas W. Cahill, Spalding's Official Association "Soccer" Foot Ball Guide (Spalding's Athletic Library – Group II –No. 2A (New York: American Sports Publishing Co., 1911)). |access-date=December 17, 2020 |archive-date=August 16, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220816065445/https://collections.carli.illinois.edu/digital/collection/sie_soccer/id/866/ |url-status=live }}

Orton was secretary of the Rose Tree Hunt Club.

Death and legacy

Orton was named to the Helm Foundation and University of Pennsylvania Hall of Fame.

He died on June 24, 1958, in Laconia, New Hampshire, at age 85.{{Cite web |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/177697741/ |title="George Orton Dies", Philadelphia Inquirer, June 26, 1958. |access-date=August 19, 2022 |archive-date=August 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220819041537/https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/177697741/ |url-status=live }}

A book about Orton, The Greatest Athlete (you've never heard of), was published in 2019.Mark Hebscher, The Greatest Athlete (you’ve never heard of): Canada’s First Olympic Gold Medallist (Toronto:

Dundurn Press, 2019).{{Cite web |url=https://www.canadashistory.ca/explore/books/the-greatest-athlete-you-ve-never-heard-of#:~:text=In%20The%20Greatest%20Athlete%20(you,greatest%20athletes%20of%20his%20generation. |title=Book review by Dave Baxter: The Greatest Athlete (you've never heard of): Canada’s First Olympic Gold Medallist, in Canada's History, posted July 28, 2020. |access-date=March 11, 2023 |archive-date=March 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230311000957/https://www.canadashistory.ca/explore/books/the-greatest-athlete-you-ve-never-heard-of#:~:text=In%20The%20Greatest%20Athlete%20(you,greatest%20athletes%20of%20his%20generation. |url-status=live }}