On May 23 in 1993, the book closed on a most glorious chapter in Canadian gymnastic history. On that day at the national championships, the most outstanding and successful gymnast – male or female – in Canadian history bid farewell to a competitive career that had taken him to the top of the world in his sport.

     It didn’t surprise anyone that Curtis Hibbert stepped away from the competitive floor on a winning note, still as the champion. For a decade or so, the Mississauga athlete practically ruled the Canadian men’s competitive field, winning gold medals on all apparati at one championship or another, and routinely finishing first in the all-around category. Sandwiched between this farewell fling and his debut on the national team as mere junior in 1982, are six world championship and two Olympic Games appearances.

     Hibbert’s career is dotted with many firsts, both in the domestic and global arenas.

After his international debut in the world championships in Montreal in 1985 (he finished eighth on vault), Curtis leaped into the limelight in a spectacular fashion by winning a silver medal on high bar in the 1987 world championship in Rotterdam. This marked the first time a Canadian gymnast has won a medal at a world championship.

     He went to prove that his breakthrough was not just a one-time luck-of-the-day thing. In the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, Hibbert became the first Canadian gymnast to make the finals in three events. That year, he won 11 medals in various international competitions, including the all-around men’s title at the Champion International in Yugoslavia, a gold on vault in the Grand Prix in Rome and a gold in vault at the prestigious Chunichi Cup in Japan. He placed also fifth on high bar and a respectable 20^th all-around in the world championships in Stuttgart, Germany.

     Following the worlds, he won parallel bars at an international meet beating competitors he faced in Stuttgart, including champion Vladimir Artemov. He finished fourth all-round.

     The 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, New Zealand saw Curtis win seven medals – including five gold – representing the most medals ever won by a Canadian athlete in a single major competition. In the 1992 world championships, he made history again, winning a bronze on vault.

     Gilt-edged careers like Hibbert’s don’t happen often and when they do, they beg for recognition. The only Canadian gymnast to win medals in two world championships he was inducted into the Mississauga Sports Hall of Fame for 1997. Other honours bestowed upon him are: Sports Excellence Award of the champions in 1989; Athlete of the Month as chosen by the Sports Federation of Canada twice (November, 1987 and June, 1989); and an unprecedented four-time winner of Mississauga’s Male Athlete of the Year award.

     The Canadian gymnastics world has also seen it fit to recognize his achievements. Since 1994, the Canadian Championships’ Novice All-Around winner receives the Curtis Hibbert Award.