Jack McCulloch

McCulloch moved to Winnipeg with his family when he was four. 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 in Manitoba. He took part in the first scheduled game of organized hockey in Manitoba on December 20, 1890, and traveled east with the Victorias in 1893 as they toured Ontario and Quebec. McCulloch was one of the stars as the team won nine of eleven games, outscoring their opponents 76-36. McCulloch was most famous for his speed skating ability. His amateur skating career lasted from 1890 to 1898, during which time he established himself as the dominant speed skater in Canada. A Manitoba champion in 1890, McCulloch won the Canadian amateur title in 1893, winning all events, and the American amateur crown in 1896, again winning all events. This made McCulloch the only man ever to have 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. In the 1,500-metre race, he and famed Norwegian skater Alfred Nass finished in a dead heat, forcing a second race. McCulloch won the run-off by only two-fifths of a second. He turned professional in 1898 and barnstormed across Canada, taking on all challengers and performing exhibitions of speed, fancy skating, as well as jumping barrels and other obstacles. He also became an entrepreneur, manufacturing 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.
 * Born: August 15, 1872 in Perth, Ontario
 * Died: January 29, 1918
 * Position: Wing / Half-Back / Cover-Point / Forward

Awards & Achievements

 * Manitoba Amateur Speed Skating Champion (1890)
 * Canadian Amateur Speed Skating Champion (1893)
 * U.S. Amateur Speed Skating Champion (1896)
 * World Amateur Speed Skating Champion (1897)
 * Inducted into the Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (1960)
 * Inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame (1984)