Walter Henry EWING

Walter Ewing was one of Canada’s greatest sport shooters prior to World War II, although his career was brief and received little national attention in his day. His most well-known success came at the 1908 Summer Olympics, where he won a gold medal in the individual trap shooting contest after leading in all three stages of the event. This came after a controversial scrubbing of the scores from the first round (in which the British trio of Charles Palmer, Richard Hutton, and John Postans had held the lead), following a Canadian protest. He also took silver in the team event, alongside George Beattie, Mylie Fletcher, David McMackon, George Vivian, and Arthur Westover, after earning the highest score among the Canadians and the second-highest overall, after Great Britain’s Alexander Maunder. Ewing remained in London for a while after the Games, winning several local tournaments, and then returned to Canada, where he captured numerous provincial and national titles. Most notably, he was national champion in the individual trap in 1910 and 1911, and the two and five man team trap in 1910. In 1912, however, he turned down the opportunity to defend his national and Olympic titles and faded into obscurity. He was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1958.