Joanne McTaggart

Athlete (1994)

Track and Field

Joanne McTaggart was born in Regina in 1954. She took all of her public schooling and two years of high school in Regina. She moved to Saskatoon, attended Walter Murray Collegiate in Saskatoon and once won five events at the school meet. She also started to compete on behalf of the Saskatoon Track and Field Club.

She became a regular at the Knights of Columbus Indoor Games and by 1972, was running for Saskatchewan against Alberta on the boards. She enjoyed good success with the Saskatchewan women's team. Most significant was the race of her indoor career in March, 1975, when she broke the world record for the women's indoor 300-metres at 38.2 seconds at Edmonton.

Joanne qualified for the Canadian team at the 1975 Pan-American Games, was part of a third-place finish in the 400-metre relay and half an hour later, was invited to run the 1,600-metre relay where Canada held off the Americans and the Cubans to win the gold medal.

Joanne made the 1976 Canadian Olympic team, travelled to Montreal, ran two heats in the 200 metres and then was part of a Canadian team which finished fourth in the women's 400-metre relay.

Three times, 1971, 1976 and 1981, she won the Dairy Pool Foundation award as an outstanding woman in track and field. She also represented Saskatchewan in the Western Canada Summer Games and finished first in the women's 200 metres.

Among her previous honours has been selection to the University of Saskatchewan's Athletic Wall of Fame.