Garfield MacDonald was Nova Scotia’s first Olympic medal winner, bringing home to New Glasgow a silver medal in the hop-step-jump competition from the 1908 Olympics in London, England. He also entered the running high jump and although did not place in the medal standings, recorded a respectable jump of five feet and eight inches.

MacDonald was a natural athlete and quickly made a name for himself in track and field. He won a string of medals and trophies for high jump, broad jump, pole vault, hop-step-jump, tennis, and golf. MacDonald never retired from his dental practice or the golf links until he passed away in 1951. Garfield MacDonald was inducted into the Nova Scotia Sports Hall of Fame in 1988.