GERALD MACDONALD
Athlete
Antigonish Highland Games Hall of Fame
Inducted: July 11, 2019
Growing up in Springfield in Antigonish County, Gerald MacDonald was introduced to pole vaulting by a box of cereal. The cereal was Wheaties (“Breakfast of Champions”). The inspiration was a picture of the Reverend Bob Richards, an Olympic world champion pole vaulter. Gerald looked at the box every morning, and announced to his mother that he hoped to become a pole vaulter in the Antigonish Highland Games.
Gerald reported that at a very young age he became interested in track and field; in a time when track and field captured the interest of the many citizens of Antigonish County. Young men were inspired by the accomplishments of athletes at the Highland Games in Antigonish, Gerald’s father would not begin his summer farming chores until after the Games were held – this was the practice throughout the County.
To help him improve his sport, Gerald and his father would find properly supple spruce poles, strip the bark from them, and cut them into ten foot lengths, so Gerald could develop the skills demonstrated in the Highland Games. His mother encouraged him by allowing the poles to be dried out above the wood stove.
When Gerald was 16 years old, he was recognized as a good athlete; he was selected by the local parish priest, Father George Topshee, to go to Antigonish to join the track and field team. Gerald had only been to Antigonish on three previous occasions, and when his mother gave him permission to join the Antigonish team he thought he was going to the Olympics.
This was Gerald’s first major track and field event and he was finally going to show his prowess as a pole vaulter. The year was 1950 and Gerald won first place at the meet, he was on his way to becoming a very successful athlete over the next twenty years.
In the early 1950’s, Gerald came under the influence and coaching of Frank McGibbon, who was hired to develop Columbus Field – a complex of ball fields and a facility for track and field. It was to become the home of the Antigonish Highland Games. Frank became a ticket to success for Gerald. Gerald would spend his next formative years under Frank’s influence. Gerald indicated that he and Frank were very close and he attributes a great deal of his success to his mentor.
Gerald’s greatest achievement was to be selected from a large group of national athletes to attend the British Commonwealth Trials in Vancouver. He was one of only two athletes chosen from eastern Canada in 1954.
He attended the Canadian Interprovincial Championships at the Canadian National Exhibition in 1953 and 1954, and was first in his event on both occasions. Gerald pole vaulted to a best height of 12 feet 7 inches. He went on to become six time Maritime Junior/Senior Champion.
Gerald’s achievements at the Highland Games are legendary. He competed from 1949 to 1971, a period of twenty-two years during which he had fourteen 1st place finishes.
After competing, he became coach of the Antigonish Highland Society Track and Field Team.
At the age of 86, Gerald is still active and has become a dedicated piper with the Clan Thompson Pipe Band, with a love for playing like his ancestors before him.
For his achievements as the pole vaulter, including his six Maritime championships, placing first in two interprovincial championships and for his record 14 first place finishes in junior and senior pole vault competitions at the Antigonish Highland Games, Gerald MacDonald is inducted into the Antigonish Highland Games Hall of Fame.