Frank LUKEMAN

Frank Lukeman's amateur athletic career began to gain momentum in the mid-1900s and he was selected to represent Canada at the 1908 Summer Olympics, where he competed in four events. He was eliminated in the opening round of the 100 metres, 200 metres, and the 1,600 metres medley relay (alongside Don Buddo, Lou Sebert, and Irving Parkes) and finished 13th among 32 competitors in the long jump. In order to train for the Games with the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association, he turned down a government position in Ottawa, although he would later move there and compete for the Ottawa Amateur Athletic Club. Four years later, at the 1912 Games, he participated in five events, including the decathlon, which he dropped out of with only the javelin throw and 1,500 metres race remaining. He was eliminated in the opening round of the 110 metres hurdles and the semifinals of the 100 metres and the 4×100 metres relay (with Frank McConnell, Hal Beasley, and Army Howard), and place fourth in the pentathlon. After Jim Thorpe's disqualification for professionalism, however, Lukeman was bumped up to the bronze medal position. Although Thorpe's results were reinstated in 1982, Lukeman is still considered a bronze medalist. He also competed at the 1911 Inter-Empire Championships, an athletic tournament held as part of the "Festival of Empire" in honor of the newly-crowned George V of the United Kingdom and considered a precursor to the British Empire Games.

At the onset of World War I, Lukeman signed up with the 3rd Regiment Victoria Rifles of Canada and saw combat overseas, earning the rank of Sergeant Major. He retired from athletics after the conflict and returned to his native Montreal, where he died in 1946.

Personal Bests: 100 – 10.8 (1912); 200 – 21.7y (1910); 110H – 15.8y (1910); LJ – 7.04 (1908); Dec – 5591.760* (1912).