Biography

Born in Jamaica, Mark Graham moved to Hamilton, Ontario with his family as a child. An exceptional athlete, he was a member of the Canadian 4 x 400 metre relay team in the 1992 Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain. While his team did not reach the finals, Graham’s skills in track-and-field would go on to earn him an athletic scholarship from the University of Nebraska and later at Kent State University in Ohio.

In 2004, he answered the call to serve and enlisted in the Canadian Forces. Private Graham was sent to Afghanistan with the Royal Canadian Regiment. He was an excellent role model for the younger soldiers and had an excellent record of efficiency in his unit. Tragically, the 33-year old was killed by "friendly fire" on September 4, 2006, when his platoon was mistakenly attacked by an American warplane during an operation to capture a Taliban stronghold west of Kandahar.

Graham is buried at the National Military Cemetery in Ottawa and, in 2010, a Hamilton park where he had played as a boy was renamed "Mark Anthony Graham Memorial Olympic Park" in his honour.

Where they participated