August 22, 2018: it has just been announced that Nora Young will be inducted into the Canadian Cycling Hall of Fame this year! What an incredible recognition of Nora’s legacy as one of Canada’s most important early female cycling pioneers.
 
The Canadian Cycling Hall of Fame recognizes exceptional Canadian contributors to the sport, who “will forever inspire a future generation of Olympic and World Championship medalists,” according to Cycling Canada, which oversees the Hall. Its news release announcing the 2018 inductees said that:

"Nora Young (1917 – 2016) was a leading early era athlete who rose to prominence as one of the top female road cyclists in Canada in the 1930s and 1940s. She is one of Canada’s most important early female cycling pioneers, distinguishing herself in the top-level cycling races open to women in that era. Young’s cycling career never fully came to a halt, and she continued to win multiple medals in her 60s, 70s, and 80s in Master’s competitions throughout the world."

Nora will now join cycling superstars such as Steve Bauer, Jocelyn Lovell, Torchy Peden (a contemporary of Nora’s, whom she knew) and Karen Strong, and is also in esteemed company alongside fellow 2018 inductees Linda Jackson and Eric Wohlberg. It is particularly significant that until now there were no female cyclists in the Hall who were active in the sport prior to the 1970s – what an honour that Nora will be the first to be represented there.

This is a tremendous step forward in recognizing Canada’s early female cycling pioneers and role models, and the importance of women in Canada’s early cycling history.
 
The Canadian Cycling Hall of Fame is located in the lobby of the Mattamy National Cycling Centre (Milton Velodrome, where Canada's elite cyclists train), where a plaque about each cycling legend is on display. The 2018 induction ceremony takes place at the end of September.