Elementary students make adorable sign for father of Canadian bronze medalist

Travis Mewhirter

On 2335 Dufferin Street in Toronto, there is a sign. It’s an old school sign, one of those where you have to place individual letters behind a casing to spell out each word individually. Typically, this sign, which greets visitors at Fairbank Public School, will not feature personal messages.

Then again, this isn’t really a typical week. A teacher at the school is the father of Olympic bobsledder Phylicia George, who made history this year in becoming the first Canadian African-American female to compete in both the Winter and Summer Olympic Games. And on Feb. 21, George added another milestone to the resume: Olympic medalist.

Bronze medalist in the women’s two-man bobsled Kaillie Humphries and Phylicia George, of Canada, celebrate during the medals ceremony at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Thursday, Feb. 22, 2018. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Bronze medalist in the women’s two-man bobsled Kaillie Humphries and Phylicia George, of Canada, celebrate during the medals ceremony at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Thursday, Feb. 22, 2018. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

George and pilot Kaillie Humphries claimed a bronze medal in the two-person bobsled, .44 seconds behind Germany and .37 back from Americans Elana Meyers Taylor and Lauren Gibbs. Back in Ontario, the students, who watched George’s runs, had a message for their teacher:

“Mr. George’s daughter wins bronze.”

For George, the medal has been a long time coming. She made her Olympic debut in London in 2012, making the finals in the 100-meter hurdles, finishing in sixth. In Rio de Janeiro in 2016, she qualified for the finals in the same event and added a seventh in the 400-meter relay.