Considered by many to be Canada’s greatest all round athlete of the 1930s and 1940s, Doug Peden excelled in eleven sports: cycling, basketball, baseball, rugby, and tennis, while enjoying cricket, badminton, soccer, track and field, boxing, and softball. Even in his later years, Doug enjoyed a 4-handicap in golf. Over his sports career, he picked up more than sixty major trophies and hundreds of minor awards. He was inducted into the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame and Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame. After retiring he worked as a sports writer and editor with the Victoria Times Colonist for over two decades.
In cycling, Peden won the BC one mile championship in 1934. After representing Canada at the 1936 Olympics in basketball, Peden turned pro. He reached international prominence as racing partner to older brother Torchy, the world six-day-bike racing champion. From 1936-40, on the board tracks of Toronto, Boston, Detroit, Chicago, New York, and beyond, he and Torchy won 32 of 38 team races for a record unmatched in the sport. In 1939, he won the Canadian professional sprint championship.
Peden entered senior A basketball at age sixteen. He played with the 1934-35 Canadian champion Victoria Blue Ribbons and the 1945-46 Victoria Dominoes. As a member of the 1936 Canadian Olympic basketball team at the Berlin Olympics, he helped Canada to a silver medal. He was originally selected to the team as a spare and became top scorer in the entire Olympic tournament. He was also the captain and flag bearer of the entire Canadian contingent at the 1936 Olympics. In 1939-40, he played with the semi-pro Buffalo Bisons. For two seasons from 1946-48, he played pro with the Vancouver Hornets in the Northwest Coast League.
Peden started playing baseball for the first time in 1940 and turned pro in the minors immediately. He was picked up by the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League in 1941. He played for the House of David touring team in 1940, participating in a gruelling 211 games in one season. From there, Peden played with various minor pro ball teams in Hutchinson, Kansas in 1941, Albany, New York in 1946, York, Pennsylvannia in 1947, and as player/manager of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware in 1948.
In rugby, Peden was a BC representative at age 17 and played on three BC rep teams. He was the first Canadian to score a try against the famous New Zealand All Blacks in a 1936 game.
In tennis, Peden was the provincial under-15 doubles champion. In 1934, he won the Vancouver Island junior singles, doubles, and mixed doubles championships. He was picked as a Davis Cup team candidate but was unable to participate because of other sports commitments.