Ridley College | Conway, Abbott '32

Abbott Conway from the Class of ’32 distinguished himself early on in his sports career, which began at the Ridley in 1928. The Ridley athletic community soon discovered this young man, though not the most imposing figure, had a talent for sports including boxing, gymnastics and middle distance running. Well, these first impressions of the late Abbott Conway belied the enormity of this talents and drive as he went on to distinguish himself as an Olympic athlete. Abbott had fond memories of the annual Sports Day, winning the junior and intermediate championships. His success here at Ridley sowed the seed for his later career; he went on to make the track team at the University of Toronto, where he was determined to get his first ‘T’ in boxing, swimming and athletics. After a successful university track career, he competed in the Olympic trials and was selected to represent Canada in the 800m at the Berlin Games in 1936. Following his return from Germany, Abbott went on to participate in the Empire Games. He would enlist in the war effort in 1941 to repay a debt he had to ‘Cap’ Iggulden from his Cadet Corps days at Ridley. In fact, you can hear an interview conducted by Brian Iggulden with Abbott Conway on the new Ridley Archives webpage!

“The four years at Ridley were of tremendous value to me. I went there about as ‘green’ as anyone could be and while the experience did not ‘take the country out the boy’, it taught me how to compete with the ‘City Slickers’.”

Conway, Abbott '32 - Track