Lucille Lemay

Over her career as an archer, Lucille Lemay was Canadian women’s champion four times and medalled at the Canadian national championships a total of 10 times. Before making her mark on the Canadian national scene, she won the Québec women’s championship in 1973. What was especially impressive about this achievement was that in this sport where a high degree of accuracy is so essential, she took the championship while on crutches, a clear demonstration of her determination.

In 1976, Lemay participated in her first international competition, at the Olympic Games in Montréal. Since the Olympic archery competition was held at a club in Joliette, Québec, it was only natural that the crowd was rooting for the Canadian athlete. But to the surprise of Lemay’s foreign competitors, instead of following the usual custom of watching in silence, the spectators cheered every time she took a shot. Though she was very nervous on her first day of competition, Lemay came in a very respectable fifth in the overall ranking. In the first round, she beat the Olympic record for the 30-metre distance, scoring 341 points out of a possible 360.

In 1978, one week before giving birth, Lemay won a bronze medal at the Canadian national championships. That same year, at the world championships in Sydney, Australia, she came in 12th. In 1979, she won team silver at the Pan American Games in San Juan, Puerto Rico. In 1980, she repeated this achievement at the Championships of the Americas.

Lemay qualified for the 1980 Moscow Olympics, but like the rest of the Canadian Olympic team, did not attend the games, because of Canada’s decision to boycott them to protest the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. But she did ultimately make it to her second Olympics: the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, where she finished 33rd. Previously, she had won a bronze team medal at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Australia and a silver team medal at the 1983 Pan American Games in Caracas, Venezuela.

In the course of her career, Lemay received well deserved recognition from Québec sports organizations. In 1978, she was named Athlete of the Decade by the Québec Archery Federation. In 1980, she received the same title from the Club Multisports Montréal International, for the decade 1970-1980. In 2008, she was inducted into the Québec Sports Hall of Fame.