Lela Brooks

Lela Alene Brooks (February 7, 1908 – September 11, 1990) was a Canadian speed skater and multiple world-record holder.

Born in Toronto, Brooks was the first female member of the Old Orchard Skating Club and entered her first race at age 12.

[1] At the 1932 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, she participated in three demonstration events, all with competitors from Canada and the United States.

[4] She qualified for the 1936 Winter Olympics, the first time women's speed skating competed officially, but chose to retire.

Later that year, she married druggist Russ Campbell and moved to Owen Sound, Ontario, where he opened a pharmacy.

From left to right: Speed skaters Valentine Bialas , Charles Gorman , John Farrell , and Lela Brooks in Saint John, New Brunswick for the 1926 World's Amateur Speed Skating Championship