Cyril Coaffee

Cyril Hillyard Coaffee (14 February 1897 – 3 July 1945) was a Canadian track and field athlete.

Born in Edmonton, Greater London UK, Coaffee tied Charlie Paddock's world record for the 100 yard dash at the 1922 Canadian championships. He also competed at the 1920 and 1924 Summer Olympics.

Life In 1905, Coaffee emigrated from Great Britain to Canada. His athletic career then began in 1915 at the North End Amateur Athletic Club in Winnipeg. Five years later he won the Canadian trials for the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp for the 100 meter dash with a time of 11.2 seconds. However, his country's Olympic team was initially not taken into account due to budget concerns, but a fundraiser hosted by the citizens of Winnipeg allowed him to participate.

In Antwerp, Coaffee started in the 100 meters and 200 meters. In both disciplines he was third in his runnings and neither qualified him for the later races.

At the Canadian qualifiers for the 1928 Olympic Games he suffered from a tendon irritation in both legs and missed the qualification. His non-attendance at the Amsterdam games signaled the end of Coaffee's athletic career. In 1945, he died of a heart attack at the age of 48.

Running style

Coaffee suffered from a partial paralysis in his arm. Due to this, he ran with a strong template, so that it gave the impression that his legs were shooting out from under him.

Honours 1956 Admission to the Canada's Sports Hall of Fame 1960 Admission to the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame 1982 Admission to the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum