Alexander DECOUTEAU

A First Nations’ runner (Cree), Alex Decouteau was a native of North Battleford, Saskatchewan but moved to Alberta in 1909, where his running career took off, while he worked as a blacksmith. On Dominion Day in 1910 he won four middle-distance and distances races at the Provincial Championships. He joined the Edmonton Police Force in 1911, the first First Nation police officer in Edmonton, and began to compete nationally. After the 1912 Olympics, he ran professionally for a few years. In 1914 he became the first motorcycle cop in Edmonton. He fought in World War I initially with the 202nd Edmonton Sportsmen’s Battalion and later with the 49th Battalion. He was killed in action by a sniper’s bullet at the Battle of Passchendale in Ypres, Belgium. He was later inducted posthumously into the Edmonton Sports Hall of Fame, the Edmonton City Police Hall of Fame, and the Saskatchewan Indian First Nation Sports Hall of Fame.

Personal Best: 5000 – 15:24.2 (1912).