Representing Canada at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Frank Amyot competed in the men’s C-1 (Canadian canoe) 1000 metres. At the Grünau regatta course, in a come-from-behind victory, Frank Amyot won the gold medal (in a time of 5:32.1), 09 August. Bohuslav Karlík (Czechoslavakia) won silver; Erich Koschik (Germany) bronze. Only a final event was held.
Amyot’s club, the Britannia Boating Club, had raised the funds to send him to Germany because Canadian officials refused to fund the trip. Amyot was inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 1949 and Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1955.
Frank Amyot also played football. Some of the Ottawa Rough Riders were also boating enthusiasts. In June 1933, a canoe overturned in the Ottawa River throwing three star athletes in the rough waters just above the Deschenes Rapids. Amyot’s speed in reaching the accident was largely responsible for the rescue of all three.
Alongside his wife Mary Kelly (1910-1983), Francis Amyot (1904-1962) is buried in lot 225, section 37, Notre-Dame Cemetery, Ottawa, Ontario.
Frank Amyot funeral set for Friday
Funeral services will be held Friday for Frank Amyot, one of Canada’s finest single blade paddlers, who died Wednesday at the Civic Hospital.
Requiem High Mass will be held at St. Basil’s Church at 8 a.m. for the first man to win the Olympic gold medal in 1936 for Canada.
Born in Ottawa 57 years ago, he resided at 2074 Navaho Dr. and was married to the former Mary Kelly. He was employed by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.
Mr. Amyot represented the Britannia Club where he was a life member. His career virtually began when he won the intermediate singles championship in the Canadian Canoe Association contest in 1923. After that, he won six Canadian senior titles.
During the last war, he served with the Canadian Navy as a lieutenant commander.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by two sisters, Mrs. Duncan Chisholm and Mrs. Michael McMorrow, and three brothers, Joseph, Rev. William Amyot and Dr. Greg Amyot.
His body is resting at the Kelly Funeral Home.
The Ottawa Citizen, page 30, 22 November 1962