One of Richmond’s key builders for amateur sport is among 120 people from across the country honoured in the New Year’s appointments to the Order of Canada.
Kajaks Track and Field Club co-founder Diane Clement is among 77 members (C.M.) named. The list also includes five Companions (C.C.) and 38 Officers (O.C.. Recipients will be invited to accept their insignia at a ceremony to be held later this year in Ottawa.
Created in 1967, the Order of Canada is one of our country’s highest honours. Presented by the governor general, the Order honours people whose service shapes our society, whose innovations ignite our imaginations, and whose compassion unites our communities.
Clement, 83, was recognized for her contributions to sport and recreation as an advocate for athletic excellence, fitness and healthy living among all Canadians.
An accomplished athlete, she was a sprinter on the 1956 Canadian Olympic team and a bronze medalist at the 1958 Commonwealth Games. She married Dr. Doug Clement in 1959 and the couple eventually settled in Richmond where they founded the Kajaks. Later they launched the Vancouver Sun Run.
Diane is also an accomplished chef who authored the bestselling Chef on the Run series, is the former co-owner/chef of the Tomato Fresh Food Café and also former host of Global TV’s “Saturday Chefs.”
The Clements were among the inaugural induction class to the Richmond Sports Wall of Fame in 2015. A year later, Diane joined Doug in the BC Sports Hall of Fame.
Doug was also honoured with Order of Canada back in 1991.
