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Hockey surprise: He's a girl!
Throughout history, "ladies" were discouraged from participating in team sports because it was thought competition would lead to "manly" behaviours. But thanks to pioneering athletes such as Bobbie Rosenfeld, Nancy Greene and Hayley Wickenheiser, young women now have the freedom to participate and excel in any sport — be it track, skiing or hockey. These women not only excelled in their chosen fields but were instrumental in shattering stereotypes of the female athlete.
Like Bobbie Rosenfeld before her, Hoffman turns to running, specializing in the 800-metre run. She competes in four Olympics (1964, 1968, 1972 and 1976). Hoffman wins the gold medal at the 1963 and 1966 Commonwealth Games as well as the gold at the 1971 Pan American Games.
• Hoffman has been active in bringing issues relating to women and sports to the mainstream. In 1981 she became the first woman director-general of Sport Canada. That same year she also became the first woman to be named to the executive of the Canadian Olympic Association.
• Hoffman wrote a fitness column for Chatelaine magazine from 1980 to 1982. Her writing was praised for being factual and informative, different from the conventional images of attractive, thin women in tight leotards.
• Hoffman was awarded the Order of Canada in 1982.
• In 2003, Hoffman was named senior advisor with Health Canada.
Program: CBC Television News
Broadcast Date: March 9, 1956
Guest(s): Abby Hoffman
Duration: 2:05
Last updated: April 16, 2012
Page consulted on February 8, 2013
All Clips from this Topic
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During a Grads reunion, basketball star MacDonald remembers the good o...
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Rosenfeld talks about being voted Canada's outstanding female athlete ...
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Marilyn Bell proves women can succeed in marathon events.
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Nine-year-old Abby Hoffman talks about playing hockey disguised as a b...
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Abby Hoffman talks about playing hockey disguised as a boy.
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Lucille Wheeler is given a hero's welcome as she returns from Austria ...
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Abby talks about secretly playing on the boys' hockey team.
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Bobbie Rosenfeld sets the bar with her athletic excellence.
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Bell remembers back to the day she finished her swim across Lake Ontar...
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Champion skier Nancy Greene maintains steady control in all aspects of...
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The phenomenal Edmonton Grads dominate the game with their unparallele...
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Fifteen-year-old Hayley Wickenheiser talks about her future in profess...
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Olympic medallist Clara Hughes swaps pedals for skates and prepares fo...
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Campbell recalls playing hockey with the boys.
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Wickenheiser talks to CBC after becoming the first woman to register a...
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In 2003, women's hockey champ Hayley Wickenheiser discusses playing to...
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Throughout history, "ladies" were discouraged from participating in te...
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Manon Rhéaume becomes the first woman to play in the NHL.