Robert MCCALL

Rob McCall was an active, and successful, figure skater for several years prior to teaming up with Tracy Wilson, alongside partner Marie McNeil. Together they were national runners-up in the Canadian Novice Ice Dancing Championships and 1977 Canadian junior champions, before moving to the senior level where they placed third in 1978 and 1979, second in 1980 and, finally, first in 1981. They also had two 13th place finishes at the World Championships in their final two years. For McCall, 1981 was the first of eight consecutive national championships, joining with Wilson for the other seven. Although they placed only 10th at the 1982 World Championships, their international ranking began to rise with 6th place finishes in 1983 and 1984 and 8th at the 1984 Winter Olympics. The climbed to 4th in 1985 before earning, in 1986, the first of three consecutive bronze medals at the World Championships, in addition to one earned at the 1988 Winter Olympics. This final medal made them the first Canadian ice dance team to reach the Olympic podium and their accomplishment was honored later that year with inductions into the Canadian Hall of Fame and the Order of Canada. The duo spent two years skating together at the professional level prior to McCall’s death from AIDS-related brain cancer at the age of only 33. Since 1995, the Tracy Wilson and Rob McCall Trophy has been given to the most outstanding Canadian pairs team in any sport.