It was not surprising that Nancy Lewington would have a stellar sports career. The Delta Collegiate graduate’s mother Betty was part of Canada’s gold medal winning Medley Relay team at the 1934 British Empire Games in London, running the second leg.
Like her Mom, Nancy would excel in track, at the 50, 60,100 and 220 yard distances, as well as the 4×100 relay from 1955 on.
An honour student at Delta, Nancy Lewington collected over 100 medals, trophies and other awards at the midget and juvenile levels, at such prestigious events as the 91st Highlanders, the CNE, the Toronto Police Games and the CANUSA Games. She also starred in the Ontario Junior Championships winning the 60 yards as a midget and the Eastern Canada Track and Field Championships, winning four events.
In 1960, at the Ontario Championships, she recorded three first place finishes, in the 60, 100 and 200 metres.
Lewington, running for the Hamilton Track Club at age 19, set the Canadian record of 11.8 seconds at the Olympic Trials in Saskatoon before heading off to Rome for the 1960 Olympic Games. She competed in both the women’s 100 metres and the women’s 4×100 metre relay, making it to the semi final stage before being eliminated with a leg muscle problem.
She hurt the leg five years previous, but the injury only flared up occasionally. However, she re-aggravated the problem at the Olympics and her competitive racing was effectively over.
She would go on to teach and coach at several elementary and high schools.
An avid photographer, Lewington also became involved in ‘Art of the Olympics,’ which links Olympians with school children through art. She was honoured by the AOTO as a featured Olympian artist in 2012.
Nancy Lewington is a breast cancer survivor for more than 20 years.