Long covered biggest names and shone light on brightest newcomers
In a profession dominated by men, Wendy Long made a point of providing a voice for the female athlete.
“I wasn’t on a crusade, I just brought a very different perspective, I think, to the whole thing,” said Long, who was announced Thursday as the first female inductee into the media category of the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame.
A reporter at The Vancouver Sun in the 1980s and ’90s, Long focused on amateur and Olympic sports, often writing on women and sports that rarely got space in sport sections.
“It just came out of natural interest,” Long said. “Just as the male reporters seemed to gravitate towards the male athletes, I was interested in the female athletes and their stories because I figured half the population would be interested, if not the whole population.”
She covered six Olympic Games from 1988 to 2000, the 1991 world track and field championships, the 1989 FIS world alpine championships and the 1994 Commonwealth Games.
Long also authored the 1995 book Celebrating Excellence: Canadian Women Athletes.
“One of the best things about doing the job is when you get to meet the athletes when they’re young and you get to see their development. And then you’re there for their big day, like when Rob Boyd won the downhill at Whistler (in 1989). Or, when (wrestler) Daniel Igali won the gold in Sydney (at the 2000 Olympics).”
One of her favourite moments was meeting runners Roger Bannister and John Landy of Miracle Mile fame from the 1954 Empire Games in Vancouver.
“When I was a kid, we used to do what we called the Miracle Mile, which was running around the block and time one another. To meet those two guys was a dream.”