Eric Gillis – From Antigonish to the Olympics, and Back Again

Eric Gillis was born to Colin and Teresa Gillis on 8 March 1980 in Antigonish, Nova Scotia – the eldest of three children. Eric had early encouragement from his parents to participate in a wide variety of sports when he was a young student in Antigonish. In 7th grade, after hearing about the opportunity on his school’s morning announcements, Eric decided to try out for his school’s cross country team. He chose to join the team mainly for the social aspect – it was a popular sport among students at his school. Initially, Eric expected to participate in cross country for no longer than he had participated in the many other sports he had tried. However, his decision to join the team was life-changing. Ultimately, he committed to cross country and, years later, he chose to pursue it professionally.

Eric attended St. Francis Xavier University from 1998 to 2006. During this time, he was a member of the X-Men Cross Country Team. In 2003, he competed at the World University Games and won the gold medal at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) Cross Country Championship. In 2004, Eric graduated with a Bachelor of Human Kinetics and, in 2006, he completed his Bachelor of Education degree. In his final year of his Human Kinetics degree, as part of the Human Kinetics program’s tradition of giving out mock awards to its students, Eric was given the award of “Most Likely to Make the Olympics.”

Although Eric had no intention of pursuing a career that would lead him to the Olympics at that time, this award has clearly aged well. From StFX, Eric’s professional career kicked off. In 2005, he won the bronze medal at the Canadian Championships. In 2007, he won the gold medal in the 10,000m category and the bronze medal in another category. In 2008, Eric made the leap to the Beijing Summer Olympics, where he completed the 10,000m event in 33rd place. This same year, Eric also won the gold medal at the Canadian 10,000m Championships and the silver medal at the Canadian Cross Country Championships. In 2011, Eric won the Vancouver Sun Run before, again, representing Canada in the 2012 London Summer Olympics and placing 22nd – this time in the marathon (42.2 km). Eric recalled that he specifically remembers the loud and heavily invested spectators in London. In 2016, Eric again won the Vancouver Sun Run and, later that year, represented Canada for a third time at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics. This time, Eric placed 10th place – the first time a Canadian had placed in the top 10 in the marathon since 1976.

In 2017, at 27 years old, Eric moved back to Antigonish from Guelph, Ontario, and became the assistant coach of the StFX cross country and track programs. Bernie Chisholm, who was still the head coach at the time, had coached Eric from 9th grade to the end of his time on the X-Men Cross Country Team. Since 2018, Eric has served as head coach and has won the Atlantic University Sport Coach of the Year award three times (2018, 2021, and 2022). When asked about his greatest career highlight, from which he has many to choose, Eric said that his field trip to MacDonald’s with the cross country team in 7th grade was a particular memory that stood out. Indeed, this is indicative of what Eric values most about StFX and, more broadly, Antigonish – the social aspect and the support. Although great sports facilities also matter, Eric highlights that the small environment at StFX is one of the things he values most about the university. Eric said, “You can get really good support at a small university and learn a lot of good lessons without it having everything.” He went on to say, “The social networking that happens at StFX – I think – is unique.”

From his beginnings in cross country while in grade school, to his participation in three consecutive summer Olympic games, and now his coaching career in Antigonish, Eric Gillis surely represents some of the best of Antigonish’s athleticism.

Submitted by Nick Bremner, HIST 229, 21 April 2024