Joy didn’t realize the impact the 1976 Olympic silver medal had on Canada

Greg Joy of Vancouver clears the high jump during Olympic finals competition Aug. 11, 1976 in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Chartrand

Greg Joy’s silver medal-winning jump at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal was immortalized in the ‘O Canada’ video, but he admits he initially had no idea how big of an impact his medal had on Canada.

Joy jumped 2.23 metres to win silver at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, and his jump was part of the ‘O Canada’ sign-off that aired on CBC.

“I was living in the United States and I, for years, had no idea the impact,” Joy told Newstalk 580 CFRA’s The Morning Rush with Bill Carroll.

“I’d walk around, and people would say things (and) talk and it was something I was not prepared for. Literally for decades, I had no idea that it had that a big of impact on the country.”

“I was on TV so much, I was recognized.”

As part of CTV News Ottawa and Newstalk 580 CFRA’s Proudly Canadian week, Carroll spoke with Joy about his silver medal at the Montreal Games. Carroll mentioned how he would see Joy’s medal-winning jump on the ‘O Canada’ sign off.

“I knew that I had secured a medal,” Joy said about his reaction following the jump that was shown on the national anthem.

“The colour was to be determined but I knew by that jump that I had secured a medal. Being on home soil and being a 20-year-old kid and having the home crowd; it was pretty spectacular.”

Joy was born in the United States and lived in British Columbia from ages 9 to 17.

He says training has changed since winning the silver medal in 1976.

“Canada was just starting to develop a sport program. I coached myself. I would eat McDonalds. There was no big plan on how to develop an athlete and then we boycotted 1980.” Joy said.

“It wasn’t until 84, and that was a boycotted (Summer Games), that we started to come into our own and people like Alex Baumann were starting to dominate the world. No one was doing that back in the 70s.”