Induction year: 2001
Sport: Wheelchair
Special Achievements:
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1972 - Paralympic Games in Germany: captured gold in both discus and pentathlon (setting 2 new world records), and silver for the 4x 60m relay.
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Outstanding Male Athlete of the Year Award
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1974 - Awarded the Order of Canada medal
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1991 - Recipient of the WAC Bennett Award from the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame & Museum
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2000 - Was inducted as an athlete category into the BC Sports Hall of Fame.
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2002 - The Eugene Reimer Middle School opened
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Chaired the 2002 BC Disability Games
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Recipient of an honorary Doctor of Laws Degree
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2007 - Honored with 'Order of Abbotsford
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2007 - Presented the 'Citizen of the year Award' by the Mayor and the Council
British Columbian athlete Eugene Reimer dominated international wheelchair sports in the late 1960s and 1970s. With only minimal use of his legs since polio had left him paraplegic at an early age, he quickly became one the province's top all round athletes. Not content with perfecting a single sport, Eugene excelled in a diverse selection: weightlifting, archery, swimming, basketball, volleyball, and all the track and field events. Even acrobatics was given a shot. Spanning a career that began in 1968 and ended in 1980, Reimer won a number of gold, silver and bronze medals from such prestigious world events the Pan American Wheelchair Games. During his twelve-year athlete career, he amassed over fifty national and ten international gold medals-5 gold, 4 silver and 1 bronze.
In 2003, Reimer was honored at the 2003 convocation ceremonies of the University College of Fraser Valley as the recipient of an honorary Doctor of Laws Degree. That same year, the Rotary Club of Abbotsford named Reimer a Paul Harris Fellow, bestowing upon him the highest honour of the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International. Reimer was also very active on committees and in events promoting the Vancouver bid for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
