Sandra Kirby

Biography

Sandra Kirby became an Olympian at Montreal 1976 where she competed in the coxed quadruple sculls as women’s rowing events were included at the Olympic Games for the first time.

After her athletic career, she remained involved in sport as an educator, administrator, coach, and activist. She has dedicated herself to eliminating sexual harassment and abuse, homophobia, and violence against children in sport.

Kirby received her PhD from the University of Alberta in 1986. Ten years later, she completed pioneering research into sexual harassment and abuse among high performance athletes, just one of the topics to which she has devoted much-needed scholarly attention. She has written more than 50 publications and has co-authored 13 books. She has worked with the IOC and UNICEF and many other national and international organizations to make sport safer for athletes and is a long-time advocate for equity and inclusion. In recognition of her work, she was inducted to Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame as a Builder in 2018.

In 2020, Kirby was appointed Officer of the Order of Canada.