Raymond Gray Lewis, Canada's first African-Canadian Olympian, was born on October 8th, 1910, in Hamilton Ontario, to a third generation "Canadian" family. He began his career, in track and field, at Central Collegiate High School. He still holds a Canadian High School track and field record, four high school championships, in one day. His victories were in the 100, 200, and 440 meter dashes, and he also received one for being the anchor in the one-mile relay.
During his youth, Lewis started to realise that he was different from his peers. He says this first started to come about when he was ten years old, because this was the first year he did not receive any Valentines from any of the white children in his class, or school. .
During the Great Depression, Lewis, briefly attended Marquette University in Milwaukee. He returned and became a porter for the Pacific Railway, and stayed for a twenty-two year career, he continued to train, when the trains would stop in the prairies, he would run beside them.
Lewis competed in the 1932 Olympics, held in Los Angeles, and won the bronze medal in the 16,00 meter relay. Since he has retired, he's been an official for track and field.
Lewis was a great athlete and was treated just like "one of the team", on the field. But off of the field Lewis was a victim to racial discrimination, (despite his amazing track performances, and Olympic bronze medal) like most African-Canadians at the time. After his running career was exhausted, Lewis tried to receive coaching positions, at various places in Canada, but was turned down. Again Lewis was a victim of racial discrimination. Lewis fed up with being turned down for coaching jobs, returned to the one place he knew he could get a job, at Pacific Railway, as a sleeping car porter.
