Jerome Drayton, 1976 Olympian and last Canadian man to win Boston Marathon in '77, dies at 80
TORONTO (AP) — Jerome Drayton, who finished sixth at the Montreal Olympics, won the 1977 Boston Marathon and held the Canadian men's marathon record for 43 years, has died. He was 80.
Drayton died unexpectedly on Monday in Toronto, according to Cardinal Funeral Homes. Runners World magazine said he died during knee surgery.
Born in Germany with the name Peter Buniak, Drayton changed his name after immigrating to Canada in 1956. He won Detroit's Motor City Marathon in 1969 in a North American record time of 2 hours, 12 minutes, and shaved 47 seconds off the mark in winning the Fukuoka Marathon in Japan later that year.
He won the 1973 Canadian championship before finishing third in Boston in 1974. Three years later — his fifth try in Boston — he pulled ahead when eventual four-time winner Bill Rodgers began to tire in the 77-degree heat and gave Canada its first victory in the race in three decades. Drayton finished second at the New York Marathon that fall.
'Jerome remains the most recent Open Division Men's Champion from Canada, and set the stage for generations of world class Canadian marathoners to follow in his footsteps,' Boston Athletic Association President Jack Fleming said.
Drayton also set a world record on the track for the 10-mile run in 1970 in 46:37.6, and was the top Canadian in the men's marathon at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. The Canada Sports Hall of Fame, which inducted him in 1978, said that Drayton held 12 national titles and set 13 records in his career.
After retiring, Drayton worked as a consultant with the Sports and Fitness Division of Ontario's Ministry of Youth, Culture and Recreation.
'He was a runner who cared not only about his own performance but the growth and development of the sport,' Fleming said. 'The feedback and interest he showed in the Boston Marathon undoubtedly helped shape the marathon in the late 70s and beyond.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Rowers back among the medals after Paris Olympics flop
Back on the water after their worst Olympic performance in 36 years, the Australian rowing team has claimed five medals at the World Cup in Varese, Italy. Triple Olympian Alex Hill, winner of a Tokyo gold and Rio silver medal in the men's four, led a new-look crew to victory as his squad sought to rebound after a lean Paris yield. Advertisement Australian rowers left France with just one bronze, won by women's pair Annabelle McIntyre and Jess Morrison, which prompted a searching review of the high performance program. The 2024 result brought to an end a stunning run by Australian crews which had yielded seven medals, including three gold from the quartet dubbed the "Oarsome Foursome". Hill was joined in Italy by two new faces in the boat in Nikolas Pender and Austin Reinehr as well as Fergus Hamilton, who was part of the crew that finished last in the Paris final. The Australians executed a measured and clinical race to take the gold medal, surging ahead of both Dutch crews in the closing stages. Advertisement Veteran Paralympian Erik Horrie also claimed gold, dominating the PR1 men's single sculls final to clinch his first World Cup win since 2022. After winning Tokyo gold, a reworked women's four failed to make the final in Paris. A new selection picked up silver in Varese in Jaime Ford, Eliza Gaffney, Georgina Rowe and Jacqueline Swick. Lisa Greissl and Sam Stunell, racing together internationally for the first time, also won silver in the PR3 mixed double sculls. The women's eight added bronze after battling through a highly competitive final, finishing just behind Great Britain and the United States. Advertisement Rowing Australia Performance Director Paul Thompson praised the team's execution and composure, with 17 rowers making their senior debut, signalling a generational change. "It's not just about the results - what's pleasing is how these crews are going about it," Thompson said. "Erik (Horrie) and the men's four were outstanding and we've got some new rowers on the podium, which is great to see."
Hamilton Spectator
2 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Cunha, Jesus score in 1st half as Botafogo holds on to beat Sounders 2-1 in Club World Cup
SEATTLE (AP) — Jair Cunha and Igor Jesus scored in the first half and Botafogo beat the Seattle Sounders 2-1 at the Club World Cup on Sunday night. Botafogo opened the scoring 28 minutes into the game as Cunha headed in a pass from Alex Telles. It came after a contentious yellow card to Nouhou Tolo gave the visitors a direct free kick just beyond the corner of the penalty box. Sounders players felt the call was unfair as there had been some unobserved jostling between Tolo and Artur before Tolo shoved his opponent to the ground. Botafogo doubled the lead in the first half's final minutes with another headed goal. Vitinho connected with his 24-year-old star teammate Igor Jesus, who sent a powerful header to the bottom corner. The Sounders played better in the second half, buoyed by their energetic subs. Four minutes after coming into the match, Paul Rothrock provided the assist for Christian Roldan's header in the 75th minute that deflected off Jesus. Key Moment The Sounders had two shots on target in a row in the final 30 seconds of stoppage time to try to tie the score, but the first was well blocked by a defender before John smothered Rothrock's attempt. Takeaways Seattle will now have to try to win points off the perceived titans of Group B, Atlético Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain to avoid going out in the group stage. Botafogo played good defense to hold onto its lead and is second in Group B on goal difference. What they said 'Obviously, they're a great team, and they put us under pressure in moments, but we matched them. The difference in the first half was just quality and a couple of key moments… I think if you looked at the statistics, you would say that Sounders were in a good spot, but obviously everything is the score line, and we couldn't find that second goal.' — Seattle Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer 'The second half, in terms of our defense, it was not good. We didn't take possession and … Seattle scored a goal with some luck, but it was deserved.' — Botafogo head coach Renato Paiva ___ AP soccer:
New York Post
4 hours ago
- New York Post
What Scottie Scheffler blamed for uncharacteristic US Open struggles
OAKMONT, Pa. — Scottie Scheffler, the world's No. 1 ranked player, simply never got it going this week. Despite entering the U.S. Open as the overwhelming favorite to win, having won three of his previous four starts (including the PGA and the Memorial), Scheffler finished with an even-par 70 on Sunday to finish 4-over par. Scheffler, who leads the PGA Tour in bogey avoidance, had 17 of them (and a double), which is more than he has made in any PGA Tour event in his career. A low point to his day came on No. 3, where Scheffler three-putted for the sixth time of the tournament en route to a sloppy double bogey. 'I felt like I did some good things out there,'' Scheffler said. 'A few more putts drop today I think it's a little different story. My first three days, I felt like I was battling the whole time. Today I hit some shots. I hit some putts that I really thought were going in, hit some lips. It was just challenging. I was just right on the edge today. 'My main takeaway is I battled as hard as I did this week. I was really proud mentally of how I was over the course of four days. I did a lot of things out there that could really kind of break a week, and I never really got that one good break that kind of propels you. I'd hit it this far off, and seemingly every time I did, I was punished pretty severely for it.'' Scottie Scheffler reacts during the final round of the U.S. Open on June 15, 2025. AP Hours before the lead groups approached the 18th hole, Jon Rahm was the leader in the clubhouse at 4-over after shooting the low round of the day at 3-under 67. He got there with birdies on his final three holes and said the difference was his accurate driving. 'It's crazy because it doesn't feel like I played that different to every other round,'' Rahm said. Rory McIlroy equaled Rahm's 67, but he finished 7-over, which ended an impressive streak of four consecutive U.S. Opens that he's finished under par. McIlroy carded seven birdies in the first three rounds and six on Sunday. The par-3 eighth hole was playing 302 yards on Sunday, making it the longest par-3 in U.S. Open history. 'Luckily, it was downwind, I'll just say that,'' Rahm said. 'How do you approach that? You most likely pull the head cover off one of the clubs and then hope it goes straight. Today, I chose to hit a 5-wood. I think 3-wood I could have landed it closer to pin high.' Justin Hastings was the only one of 15 amateurs in the field to make the cut, so he was going to finish as the low amateur regardless of what he shot on the weekend. He finished 15-over after Sunday's final-round 76. 'It was such a treat just to be able to play in the U.S. Open and then let alone have the success to be able to call yourself low amateur,' said Hastings, a native of the Cayman Islands. 'It's something I'll hold onto for the rest of my life.'' Hastings earned his way into the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open fields by winning the Latin America Amateur Championship in January. Justin Hastings looks on during the final round of the U.S. Open on June 15, 2025. Getty Images 'That tournament, I can't even describe it with words how big it's been for me,'' he said. He said he plans to turn pro after the British Open next month. 'We want to get on the PGA Tour as soon as possible,'' he said. 'My coaches like to say that good golf takes care of all that, so we're going to focus on playing as well as we can, and when we get opportunities the next few months.'' Canadian Corey Conners withdrew before his final round was to begin with a wrist injury. The 33-year-old Conners, who was competing in his seventh U.S. Open, was scheduled to tee off at 10:20 a.m., paired with Ryan Fox, of New Zealand. He had his best finish in a U.S. Open last year, when he tied for ninth at Pinehurst, has a top 15 finish in all four major championships and has won twice on the PGA Tour. The injury reportedly occurred when Conners took a shot out of a bunker on Friday and his club got caught on a TV wire for a bunker camera.
