Bobbie Rosenfeld Award

The Bobbie Rosenfeld Award is an annual award given to Canada's female athlete of the year. The sports writers of the Canadian Press (CP) first conducted a poll to determine the nation's top female in 1932, naming track star Hilda Strike the winner. The CP formalized the poll into an award in 1978, presenting their winner a plaque. It was named after Bobbie Rosenfeld, an all-around athlete and Olympic track and field champion whom the news organization had named its top athlete of the half-century in 1950. The award is separate from the Northern Star Award, in which a select panel of sports writers vote for their top overall athlete.

The poll was suspended for four years during the Second World War after the CP decided it could not name a sporting "hero" at a time when Canadian soldiers were fighting in Europe. Figure skater Barbara Ann Scott first set the record for consecutive wins by leading the poll three times from 1946 to 1948. That total was subsequently matched by swimmer Summer McIntosh in 2023–2025. Golfer Marlene Streit finished top of the poll the most times, winning on five occasions between 1952 and 1963.

The 2025 winner was swimmer Summer McIntosh.

Voting The CP first voted on a athletes of the year in 1932, the same year it inaugurated a poll that became the Lionel Conacher Award for the nation's top male athlete. The poll is separate from the previously existing Velma Springstead Trophy, which also names a female athlete of the year and was first presented by the Women's Amateur Athletic Federation of Canada in 1932.

Hilda Strike was selected the first winner on a straight vote of each writer's top choice. By 1935, the poll was conducted using a points system where voters ranked their top three choices. Each writer's top pick received three points, their second two, and their third one. A tie occurred in 1971 as pentathlete Debbie Van Kiekebelt and high jumper Debbie Brill finished with an identical 208 points. Van Kiekebelt had more first place votes, 55 to 38, however the two women were named co-winners of the award. Barbara Ann Scott was the first woman to unanimously win the award, doing so in 1947. Scott nearly duplicated the feat the following year, however the lone dissenting vote was given to a mare, Victory Gift.

No winner was selected for the year 1950, as the CP instead chose Bobbie Rosenfeld as Canada's female athlete of the half-century. Skier Nancy Greene was voted Canada's female athlete of the century in 1999. Greene was herself a two-time winner of the annual poll, and was also an Olympic gold medallist, six-time Canadian champion and twice won the Alpine World Cup. Voters selected their first disabled athlete as the winner in 2008, naming wheelchair racer Chantal Petitclerc the recipient of the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award after she won five gold medals and set three world records at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing. Golfers and swimmers have won the most awards with 14 each, followed by skiers (including biathlete Myriam Bédard) with 12. Figure skaters have 10 victories.

List of winners

YearWinnerSportWin #Achievement 1932 Track and field 1 Silver medallist at the 1932 Summer Olympics 1933 Golf 1 Winner of Canadian Women's open and closed championships 1934 Swimming 1 Quadruple gold medallist at 1934 British Empire Games 1935 Track and field 1 Considered Canada's top female sprinter 1936 Track and field 1 Bronze medallist at 1936 Summer Olympics 1937 Track and field 1 Set Canadian record in the javelin throw 1938 Basketball 1 Captained her team to national championship. 1939 Figure skating 1 Won North American championship 1940 Badminton 1 Toronto, Ontario and Canadian champion 1941 Figure skating 2 Won North American championship for third consecutive year 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 Figure skating 1 Canadian and North American champion 1947 Figure skating 2 European and world champion 1948 Figure skating 3 Gold medallist at the 1948 Winter Olympics, European and world champion 1949 Swimming 1 Holder of numerous Canadian records 1950 Athlete of the half-century Track and field — Gold and silver medallist at the 1928 Summer Olympics, set records in numerous athletics events, also played hockey, basketball and tennis 1951 1952 Golf 1 Winner of Canadian Women's closed championship 1953 Golf 2 Winner of the British Ladies Amateur Golf Championship 1954 Swimming 1 First person to swim across Lake Ontario 1955 Swimming 2 Youngest person to swim across the English Channel 1956 Golf 3 Winner of eight tournaments, including U.S. Women's Amateur 1957 Golf 4 Winner of Canadian closed and Ontario amateur championships 1958 Skiing 1 Winner of downhill and slalom world championships 1959 Skiing 1 Winner of multiple European events 1960 Skiing 2 Gold medallist at the 1960 Winter Olympics 1961 Swimming 1 Set world record in 110-yard butterfly 1962 Swimming 2 Gold medallist at 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games 1963 Golf 5 Winner of three tournaments, including Canadian open and closed championships 1964 Figure skating 1 Canadian champion and bronze medal winner at 1964 Winter Olympics 1965 Figure skating 2 Winner of world championship 1966 Swimming 1 Quadruple gold medallist at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games 1967 Skiing 1 Winner of the 1967 Alpine Skiing World Cup 1968 Skiing 2 Gold and bronze medallist at 1968 Winter Olympics and winner of the 1968 Alpine Skiing World Cup 1969 Diving 1 Canadian champion and winner of English diving championship 1970 Diving 2 Double gold medallist at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games 1971 Pentathlon 1 Gold medallist at 1971 Pan American Games 1971 High jump 1 Gold medallist at 1971 Pan American Games 1972 Golf 1 Top-20 finish in the LPGA Tour standings 1973 Figure skating 1 Winner of world championship 1974 Swimming 1 Triple gold medallist at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games 1975 Swimming 1 Set world record in the 200 metre backstroke 1976 Skiing 1 Gold medallist at the 1976 Winter Olympics 1977 Swimming 1 First woman and fastest person to complete a double crossing of the English Channel 1978 Pentathlon 1 Gold medallist at the 1978 Commonwealth Games 1979 Golf 1 Second on the LPGA Tour, earned more prize money in a single year than any previous Canadian golfer 1980 Golf 2 Earned over US$100,000 on LPGA Tour 1981 Figure skating 1 Winner of the St. Ivel International 1982 Skiing 1 Winner of the downhill world championship 1983 Tennis 1 Winner of one tournament and finalist in two others as first year professional 1984 Diving 1 Gold medallist at the 1984 Summer Olympics 1985 Tennis 2 Ranked 17th in the world by the Women's Tennis Association 1986 Skiing 1 Seven top-three finishes and third overall in downhill 1987 Synchronized swimming 1 Double gold medallist at World Aquatic Championships 1988 Synchronized swimming 2 Double gold medallist at the 1988 Summer Olympics 1989 Tennis 1 Ranked 13th in the world by the Women's Tennis Association 1990 Tennis 2 First woman to win four consecutive national senior championships 1991 Rowing 1 World champion in single skulls and World Cup winner 1992 Rowing 2 Won bronze medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics, less than three months after serious accident that doctors predicted would end her career 1993 Skiing 1 Winner of the downhill world championship 1994 Biathlon 1 Double gold medallist at 1994 Winter Olympics 1995 Speed skating 1 Won silver and bronze medals at world championships, second overall in World Cup 1996 Cycling 1 Silver medallist at 1996 Summer Olympics, world champion and World Cup winner 1997 Golf 1 Earned Canadian record of US$426,000 on LPGA Tour 1998 Speed skating 1 Gold and bronze medallist at 1998 Winter Olympics, leader in the World Cup at both 500 and 1000 metres 1999 Athlete of the century Skiing — Olympic gold medallist, two-time Alpine World Cup champion, six-time Canadian champion 2000 Golf 2 Winner of three LPGA Tour events 2001 Speed skating 2 Canadian and world champion, set world record at 500 metres 2002 Speed skating 3 Gold medallist at 2002 Winter Olympics, world champion, overall champion and set Olympic record at 500 metres 2003 Track and field 1 World champion in the 100 metres hurdles. 2004 Cycling 1 Gold medallist at the 2004 Summer Olympics. 2005 Speed skating 1 Set four world records en route to winning eight medals on World Cup circuit. 2006 Speed skating 2 Won five medals (one gold, two silver, two bronze – Canadian record) at the 2006 Winter Olympics. 2007 Ice hockey 1 Captained Team Canada to world championship gold and named the most valuable player of the tournament. 2008 Wheelchair racing 1 Won five gold medals and set three world records at 2008 Summer Paralympics. 2009 Tennis 1 First Canadian in ten years to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam event. 2010 Figure skating 1 Won the bronze medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics days after her mother died of a heart attack. 2011 Freestyle skiing 1 Finished her career by winning two gold medals in women's moguls at the Freestyle Skiing World Championships. 2012 Soccer 1 Led Team Canada to a bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, winning the Golden Boot as the tournament's top scorer. 2013 Tennis 1 Climbed to number 32 in the WTA rankings, was named Newcomer of the Year. 2014 Tennis 2 Reached number 5 in the WTA rankings, was named Most Improved Player, reached Wimbledon Finals. 2015 Golf 1 First Canadian to win on the LPGA Tour in more than a decade. 2016 Swimming 1 Won four medals (including one gold) at the 2016 Summer Olympics in swimming 2017 Golf 2 Won two LPGA Tour events, finishing 6th on the money list. 2018 Golf 3 Won two LPGA Tour events, first Canadian winner of the Canadian Women's Open title in 45 years, 4th on the money list. 2019 Tennis 1 Became the first Canadian to win a Grand Slam singles title by capturing the US Open women's singles championship 2020 Soccer 2 Became the all-time leading goal scorer in international play. 2021 Tennis 1 Winner of the 2021 Monterrey Open and finalist at the 2021 US Open. 2022 Ice hockey 1 Captained Team Canada to gold medals at the 2022 Winter Olympics and 2022 World Championship, scoring her third Olympic game-winning goal at the former. 2023 Swimming 1 Won two gold medals at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships and set two world records. 2024 Swimming 2 Won four medals (three of them gold) at the 2024 Summer Olympics, and five medals (three of them gold) at the 2024 World Aquatics Swimming Championships. 2025 Swimming 3 Won four gold medals at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships, and set three world records.

Notes According to the Canadian Press, the award was discontinued between 1942 and 1945 because "sports writers decided athletes cannot rate as heroes while young Canadian pilots, paratroopers and corvette gunners fought for freedom in the shadow of death".

Denotes athlete also won the Northern Star Award as Canadian athlete of the year

No winner was announced for the years 1950 or 1999 as the Canadian Press instead voted for athlete of the half-century and century, respectively.

Joint winners named in 1971

References

Bobbie Rosenfeld Award

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