Kristen Dajia (Fawcett)

Growing up in Colborne, Kristen Fawcett came from a sporting family. A provincial “Wintario Grant” awarded to the town of Colborne in 1974 resulted in track and field equipment being available at Colborne Public School. It was a time when interest in the upcoming 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics was very high. This infusion of equipment had an immediate impact on Kristen’s athletic trajectory, and she enjoyed particular success throwing the discus in high school at ENSS. Continuing her studies at York University Kristen made both the varsity volleyball team and the track and field team. In volleyball she was part of 3 OWIAA (OUAA) Championship teams and 2 CIAU (USport) bronze medal winners. 

Upon graduating, she had the opportunity to be a pioneer in two sports. A coach at York saw Kristen throwing discus for fun and asked her to join a group learning to throw the hammer. Kristen would become one of the first women in Canada to train and compete in the hammer throw. She captured the Ontario championship in 1990, represented Canada at the Harry Jerome Track Classic in 1991, and competed at other international events - events progressive enough to include new events for women. In addition to competing, Kristen spent a great deal of time training, teaching full time and writing letters to federal politicians in order to get parity and equality for women in track and field events. After much lobbying and convincing, Hammer Throw officially became a new track and field event for women along with pole vault and triple jump – nationally recognized in 1990 and internationally recognized as Olympic events in 2000. 

Thanks in large part to Kristen’s advocacy, Canada emerged as a leader in officially recognizing new events in track and field for women and was one of the first countries to stage these events at our national championships. Kristen was also a trailblazer in women’s rugby. After playing for the Ajax Wanderers she played second row for the very first Ontario Women’s Rugby team. In its second year of existence, her Ontario Team won bronze at the Canadian Championships. Today women's rugby flourishes across Ontario and the Canadian International Women’s Team is among the top teams in world competition.