Kellen Forrest
Dinos Athletics
Les Gramantik’s journey to the Dinos Hall of Fame is a story of perseverance and dedication to one’s craft.
Gramantik, who enters the Dinos Hall of Fame as the only coach in the 2024 class, came to Calgary from a refugee camp in his home country of Romania in 1977. An elite athlete and international pole vaulter in Romania, Gramantik moved to Canada with a transition to coaching in mind.
And it’s because of that move the University of Calgary Dinos track and field program exists today.
After getting his foot in the door with the university in 1977, Gramantik was one of the leading forces behind getting the Dinos track and field program started in 1978. Something he’s still extremely proud of to this day.
“I started this program for the track in 1978, and I’m proud of the fact that I have built the program,” Gramantik said.
And Gramantik didn’t just get it started, he built it into a winner.
Serving as the Dinos head track and field coach from 1978-2005, Gramantik led the Dinos to 12 Canada West titles and five U SPORTS championships as head coach. He was named national coach of the year in 1991 to go with six conference coach of the year awards.
He parlayed his university success into national-level opportunities, being selected to coach the Canadian National team in various roles, including six Commonwealth Games, three Pan American Games, eight Olympics/Paralympics and 11 World Championships. His time with Canada was headlined by serving as head coach at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
But even with his success as a national team coach, Gramantik never forgot his roots. Though he is no longer the Dinos’ head track and field coach, he continues to work with the program to this day as an assistant coach.
“I always believed in loyalty in life, and I think the university was good to me, even with opportunities in other places,” Gramantik said when asked why he’s stuck with the Dinos for so long. “If you’re happy somewhere, you don’t need to switch. And I was happy with the program, I was happy with the organization.”
His years of dedication to the Dinos have seen Gramantik work with several incredible athletes, and not only help them succeed at the university level, but go on to have national team careers as well.
One particular group of athletes, who was given the group nickname the “University of Gramantik,” made a lasting impact on the legendary coach.
Rachael McIntosh, Katelyn Lehner, Rachel Machin and Niki Oudenaarden are four athletes that Gramantik helped succeed on the track, but also maintains a close relationship with their former coach.
The four athletes combined to accumulate more points at the U SPORTS level than any other university. They continue to get together with Gramantik to this day to share stories and laughs, which is something that’s always been very important to Gramanik.
“We’re connected very well,” Garmantik said of his connection with his four former athletes. “So that’s important to me. I don’t want athletes to leave me and goodbye, nothing to say.”
And even though he always tells his athletes not to get controlled by their emotions, Gramantik couldn’t help but let his feelings get to him when he found out that all his years of hard work resulted in a call to the hall.
“It was very exciting,” Gramanik said. “I feel a huge sense of accomplishment in my short term of life. Coming from a small, poor country many years ago, living in poverty and you get here. So, I think it’s a nice accomplishment. I’m really happy about it. I really cherish the moment.”