Women's sprint canoe is in the Tokyo Olympics. A Nova Scotia man helped make it happen

From being her first paddling coach to delivering the toast at her wedding, Frank Garner has had a significant impact on Ann Dodge's life.

"Frank was a role model to us," said Dodge, who competed in the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. "What he taught us served us well in sport but also in the rest of our lives."

Dodge, now a professor at Acadia University, was the first female kayaker from Atlantic Canada to compete in the Olympics. She placed eighth in the doubles 500-metreevent.

Though women's sprint kayak has been an Olympic sport for more than 80 years, sprint canoe is a different story.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics are the first to include women's sprint canoe.

It is not due to lack of interest. Women have been competing in canoe racing since the 1930s nationally and internationally, Garner said.

But, according to Garner, gender bias and strange misconceptions in the international canoe community kept women's events out of the Olympics.

Garner worked for years alongside female colleagues to pressurethe International Canoe Federation to work toward gender equality.

"The work that [Garner] has done with women's canoe ... to allow them to have the opportunity to race in the Olympics this year can't be understated," Dodge said. "His piece in that is enormous."

Garner has been canoeing for 60 years and has a bronze medal from the 1962 junior world championships. Since then, he has attended nine Olympics as a coach or official.

On Saturday, Garner will present the flowers at the medal awards ceremony in Tokyo for the first women's doubles canoe 500-metre race.

"I jumped at the chance," Garner said. "I hope I can keep my emotions in check."

Many people in Nova Scotia will be tuning in to watch Garner from his home club, Cheema Aquatic Club in Waverley.

Garner was the first coach at Cheema when it opened in 1969. Dodge said many of the best athletes at the time were female.

"It didn't matter to Frank about gender," Dodge said. "It mattered that you came and you worked hard. He didn't have biases about it."

The culture of acceptance Garner fostered at Cheema is flourishing, and many young female paddlers train at the club daily.

"I tried it and I just fell in love with it," said 12-year-old Emma Browne, who has been canoeing for three years.

Though the club supports female athletes, Dodge said many of the larger structural barriers she faced in the '70s and '80s are still present.

"Lack of opportunity, lack of coaching, lack of role models, lack of representation."

But she has advice for female athletes trying to make it in a male dominated sport.

"Hang in there," she said.

"Take on the challenge. Don't be intimidated. There's so many folks that aren't going to back you perhaps but it's important to persevere and do what you love."