Born and raised in Toronto’s Jane and Finch neighbourhood, an area often associated with gang violence and poverty, Carlton Chambers grew up to be a decorated track star, winning a gold medal for Team Canada during the 1996 Olympics.
“I was out there in the front lines growing up in Shoreham, so me and my friends witnessed a lot of things in the early 80s,” Chambers said.
“That stereotype of coming from Jane and Finch, I guess that’s where I wanted to be different. I wanted to be someone that the other kids could look up to.”
Despite all the prejudice around the neighbourhood, Chambers says there were a lot of positives to growing up in Jane and Finch. He fondly remembers the days of racing with classmates in between classes, crediting those friendly matches for helping him to recognize his natural talent.
“Living in the Jane and Finch area, we always use to race,” Chambers said.
“It was just a natural thing for kids to just run around and just have races and see who was the best and who was the fastest. Yeah, talent-wise I was always one of the faster kids. It was just something I did naturally and had fun with.”
Chambers quickly committed himself to track and field, training with the Brampton Track Club at the age of 17.
“I got into track and field primarily just to be in the Olympics,” Chambers said.
“I wanted to stand out and show something positive coming out of [Jane and Finch].”
Achieving that goal didn’t take long. Chambers joined Team Canada at the age of 21, competing in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Chambers earned a gold medal in the 4x100m relay, despite missing the final after a groin injury suffered in his individual 200m heat forced him to sit out the deciding race.
In the years that followed, Chambers was celebrated for his accomplishments. He was named Mississauga’s male Athlete of the Year for 1996, inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame along with the rest of his track team in 2004, and into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.
Fast-forward a couple decades, and Chambers has settled down in the GTA, doing outreach work to inspire young athletes.
Chambers said he focuses his training around life lessons that helped him achieve his own childhood dreams, emphasizing the importance of hard work and persistence.
“Nothing is easy, you have to work hard,” Chambers said.
“Nothing is given to you, so if you want something, you have to go out there and achieve and you have to work hard for it.”
He also admits that hard work is not always enough if no one is there to recognize it.
Chambers remembers moving to Malton as a teen, and the increased support received from his school and coaches to achieve his Olympic dream.
“It was a little bit different, moving from Jane and Finch to Malton,” Chambers said.
“When I got to Malton, I was looking up to other aspiring athletes that had moved on and done it before me.”
“I ended up being second in all of Ontario my first [track] meet and met a coach — Mark Guthrie. He basically promised me I could make it to the Olympics in track and field if I worked hard on it and worked with him….but I didn’t,” Chambers laughed.
“But then the next year came. I won OFSAA (the Ontario high school championships) in track and again [Guthrie] came to me and said ‘well, you can be an Olympian if you really put your efforts towards it’…so I did.”
When it comes to personal mentors in his life, Chambers also credits his mother, someone he says was with him from the very beginning.
“She made sure we had a roof over our head,” Chambers said.
“She made sure I got to practices. Everything I needed as far as my mom supporting me, my mom was there for me, definitely. She is the reason I became a gold medalist.”
Chambers hopes his story helps to break the stigma around Jane and Finch, and that he can offer the same support he received from his coach and mother to the young GTA athletes he works with today.
