Northern Star Award

The Northern Star Award, formerly known as the Lou Marsh Trophy, the Lou Marsh Memorial Trophy and Lou Marsh Award, is a trophy awarded annually to Canada's top athlete, professional or amateur. It is awarded by a panel of journalists, with the vote taking place in December. It was first awarded in 1936, named in honour of Lou Marsh, a prominent Canadian athlete, referee, and former sports editor of the Toronto Star. The trophy is made of black marble and stands around 75 centimetres high. The words "With Pick and Shovel" (the name of Marsh's long-running Star column) appear above the engraved names of the winners. The voting panel consists of sports media voters from across the country including representatives from the Toronto Star, The Canadian Press, FAN590, The Globe and Mail, CBC, Rogers Sportsnet, CTV/TSN, La Presse and the National Post.

The award has been awarded 81 times and won by 63 individual athletes and three pairs; in the voting for the 2018 Lou Marsh Trophy, it was decided in the future pairs should not be eligible for the trophy, thereby disqualifying Tessa Virtue / Scott Moir from consideration. Wayne Gretzky won the trophy four times, more than any other athlete, while Barbara Ann Scott won the trophy three times, more than any other woman. It was not awarded from 1942 to 1944 due to World War II.

There were ties between different athletes in 1978 and 2020 with soccer player Alphonso Davies & American football player Laurent Duvernay-Tardif as the most recent co-winners. In 1982, Rick Hansen was the auxiliary award of special merit winner (he won nine gold medals at the Pan-American Wheelchair Games) alongside first-time winner Wayne Gretzky, "who was the unanimous choice of the selection committee".

On November 16, 2022, it was announced the award would be renamed from the Lou Marsh Award to the Northern Star Award "after concerns were raised about racist language used by Marsh, who died in 1936, during his years of sportswriting."

Winners

Key * = Also won the Lionel Conacher Award as Canadian male athlete of the year ^ = Also won the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award as Canadian female athlete of the year

+ Year Winner Sport Win # 1936 * Track and field 1 1937 Equestrian 1 1938 Rowing 1 1939 Swimming 1 1940 * Marathon 1 1941 Rowing 1 1942 1943 1944 1945 Figure skating 1 1946 * Canadian football 1 1947 ^ Figure skating 2 1948 ^ Figure skating 3 1949 Swimming 1 1950 Canadian football & track and field 1 1951 Golf 1 1952 Shooting 1 1953 * Weightlifting 1 1954 ^ Swimming 1 1955 Swimming 1 1956 ^ Golf 2 1957 * Hockey 1 1958 ^ Alpine skiing 1 1959 Barbara Wagner & Bob Paul Figure skating 1 1960 ^ Alpine skiing 1 1961 * Track and field 1 1962 Figure skating 1 1963 Track and field 1 1964 & George Hungerford Rowing 1 1965 ^ Figure skating 1 1966 ^ Swimming 1 1967 ^ Alpine skiing 1 1968 ^ Alpine skiing 2 1969 * Canadian football 1 1970 * Hockey 1 1971 Harness racing 1 1972 * Hockey 1 1973 Horse racing 1 1974 * Baseball 1 1975 * Hockey 1 1976 Horse racing 2 1977 * Hockey 1 1978 Swimming 1 * Alpine skiing 1979 ^ Golf 1 1980 Marathon of Hope 1 1981 Shooting 1 1982 * Hockey 1 Wheelchair racing 1983 * Hockey 2 1984 Speed skating 1 1985 * Hockey 3 1986 * Track and field 1 1987 * Track and field 2 1988 ^ Synchronized swimming 1 1989 * Hockey 4 1990 * Figure skating 1 1991 ^ Rowing 1 1992 * Swimming 1 1993 * Hockey 1 1994 ^ Biathlon 1 1995 * Auto racing 1 1996 * Track and field 1 1997 * Auto racing 2 1998 * Baseball 1 1999 Kayaking 1 2000 Wrestling 1 2001 & David Pelletier Figure skating 1 2002 ^ Speed skating 1 2003 * Golf 1 2004 Kayaking 1 2005 * Basketball 1 2006 ^ Speed skating 1 2007 * Hockey 1 2008 ^ Wheelchair racing 1 2009 * Hockey 2 2010 Baseball 1 2011 * Figure skating 1 2012 ^ Soccer 1 2013 Canadian football 1 2014 Bobsleigh 1 2015 * Hockey 1 2016 ^ Swimming 1 2017 Baseball 2 2018 * Freestyle skiing 1 2019 Bianca Andreescu ^ Tennis 1 2020 * Soccer 1 American football 2021 * Track and field 1 2022 ^ Hockey 1 2023 * Basketball 1 2024 ^ Swimming 1 2025 Basketball 2

Winners by sport Not included in this table are Terry Fox and Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, as their respective wins were based on their social contributions, rather than their participation in a sport in general. Fox was awarded for the Marathon of Hope; Duvernay-Tardif was awarded for opting out of playing in the 2020 NFL season for the Kansas City Chiefs after winning Super Bowl LIV to work as an orderly at a long-term care facility during the COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec. + Wins Sport # ofIndividuals 14 Ice hockey 10 9 Swimming 9 8 Figure skating 7 Track and field 7 6 Alpine skiing 5 4 Gridiron football 4 Rowing 4 Baseball 3 3 Golf 3 Speed skating 3 Basketball 2 2 Kayaking 2 Shooting 2 Soccer 2 Wheelchair racing 2 Auto racing 1 Horse racing 1 1 Biathlon 1 Bobsleigh 1 Equestrian 1 Freestyle skiing 1 Harness racing 1 Marathon 1 Synchronized swimming 1 Tennis 1 Weightlifting 1 Wrestling 1

Northern Star Award

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