Gérard Côté

Gérard Côté

Gérard Côté, winner of the 1940 Boston Marathon
Personal information
Full name	Gérard Côté
Nationality	Canadian
Born	(1913-07-27)July 27, 1913 St-Barnabé-Sud, QC, Canada
Died	June 13, 1993(1993-06-13) (aged 79). St-Hyacinthe, QC, Canada
Sport
Country	Canada
Sport	Running
Event(s)	Marathon
Retired	1956
Achievements and titles
World finals	Member of Canadian teams: 1950 British Empire Games 1954 British Empire Games 1954 Commonwealth Games
Olympic finals	17th-place finish in the 1948 Summer Olympics
Highest world ranking	Four times winner of the Boston Marathon
Personal best(s)	Winner of the 1943 Boston Marathon in 2:28:25

Gérard Côté, CM CQ (July 27, 1913 – 13 June 1993) was a Canadian marathon runner and a four-time winner of the Boston Marathon.

Born in Saint-Barnabé-Sud, Quebec, Côté was training to be a boxer when he switched to running marathons. He competed in his first Boston Marathon in 1936 and won the race in 1940, 1943, 1944, and 1948. He set a new course record with his 1940 victory, and was awarded the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada's top athlete of the year. Côté was the first francophone recipient of the award.

Côté was also a three-time winner of the Yonkers Marathon and won three U.S. Amateur Athletic Union marathon championships. In 264 races over his career, Côté won 112 with 56 second-place finishes. He competed at the 1948 Summer Olympics but leg cramps held him to a 17th-place finish. He was a member of the Canadian teams at the 1950 British Empire Games and the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. Côté retired from running in 1956.

Côté has been inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame (1955) and Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (1956). In 1989, he was made a Knight of the National Order of Quebec and in 1990, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada. Côté died in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec at age 79.

See also

• List of winners of the Boston Marathon

References

• Côté biography by David Blaikie

External links

• Canadian Sports Hall of Fame citation
• Gérard Côté at The Canadian Encyclopedia
• National Order of Quebec citation (French)

Further reading

• David Blaikie. Boston, the Canadian Story. Seneca House Books, 1984 ISBN 0-920598-04-8

Awards
Preceded by Bob Pirie	Lou Marsh Trophy winner 1940	Succeeded by Theo Dubois