Phil Edwards (athlete)

Phil Edwards

Phil Edwards at the 1928 Olympics
Personal information
Full name	Philip Aaron Edwards
Born	September 23, 1907 Georgetown, Guyana
Died	September 6, 1971 (aged 63) Montréal, Canada
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	64 kg (141 lb)
Sport
Sport	Running
Club	Hamilton/McGill University
Medal record Representing Canada Olympic Games 1928 Amsterdam 4×400 metres 1932 Los Angeles 800 metres 1932 Los Angeles 1500 metres 1932 Los Angeles 4×400 metres 1936 Berlin 800 metres Representing  British Guiana British Empire Games 1934 London 880 yards

Philip Aaron "Phil" Edwards, MD (September 23, 1907 – September 6, 1971) was a Canadian and Guyanese track and field athlete who competed in middle-distance events. Nicknamed the "Man of Bronze", he was Canada's most-decorated Olympian for many years. He was the first-ever winner of the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada's top athlete. He went on to serve as a captain in the Canadian army and as a highly regarded physician and expert of tropical diseases.

Edwards was born in Georgetown, British Guiana (now Guyana), to a lawyer who acted as his first running coach. Following secondary school Edwards moved to the United States to pursue his running career, enrolling in New York University in 1926, and attracted attention by setting a number of intercollegiate records in middle-distance events.

While Edwards' performance at New York University clearly established him as an Olympic-calibre athlete, he was not eligible to compete for the United States even though he could compete for Canada and also did not have an Olympic team. In 1927 he was invited by Melville Marks (Bobby) Robinson, manager of the Canadian Olympic track and field team, to compete for Canada in the 1928 Summer Olympics, where Edwards won a bronze medal as part of Canada's 4 × 400 m relay team.

Following Amsterdam, Edwards left New York University to attend Montreal's McGill University as a medical student, where he also competed with university's track team. Edwards also continued his association with Bobby Robinson there, competing for British Guiana in the first-ever Commonwealth Games which were created largely due to Robinson's efforts, held in Hamilton, Ontario in 1930. He would go on to compete once more for British Guiana in the 1934 British Empire Games in London.