Billy Foster, in 1965, was the first Canadian to ever race in the Indianapolis 500. Two years later at age 29 he was dead, the result of a fatal crash in a practice lap at a NASCAR race in Riverside, California. Billy was a hugely popular individual and the great Mario Andretti counted him a friend. Billy had an early interest in racing and at age thirteen was found hanging around doing odd jobs at the old Langford track. Within eight years he was testing tires for the Firestone Corporation. In his races at Western Speedway and around the Pacific Northwest he was always the frontrunner and he is regarded as pivotal in proving to many that a Canadian could make it in the big leagues of car racing.

Norm Baker, as a sixteen year old, led the Victoria Dominoes basketball team to a victory over the Harlem Globetrotters. Their originator, the legendary Abe Saperstein, called Norm "one of the greatest natural players I have ever seen." In 1950 he was named Canada's basketball player of the half-century and later that year he was the only non-US player selected to the Stars of the World team (the best pros and college players of the day) that toured Europe. Norm played four years as a pro in the old American Basketball Association including a contract with the Boston Whirly Birds, the forerunners of the Boston Celtics. His career included playing for the New Westminster 1947 Mann Cup national lacrosse team, four-time Canadian national champion Victoria Dominoes basketball team, and the national Air Force champion Pat Bay Gremlins. He is a member of the Canadian and BC Sports Halls of Fame.