Donovan Bailey
Medal record | ||
---|---|---|
Men’s athletics | ||
Olympic Games | ||
1996 Atlanta | 100 m | |
1996 Atlanta | 4x100 m relay | |
World Championships | ||
1995 Gothenburg | 100 m | |
1995 Gothenburg | 4x100 m relay | |
1997 Athens | 4x100 m relay | |
1997 Athens | 100 m |
Donovan Bailey (born December 16, 1967) is a retired Canadian sprinter who once held the world record for the 100 metre race following his gold medal performance in the 1996 Olympic Games.
Born in Manchester, Jamaica, Bailey emigrated from Jamaica to Canada at age 11, and played basketball before his graduation at Queen Elizabeth Park High School in Oakville, Ontario. He began competing as a 100 m sprinter part-time in 1991, but he did not take up the sport seriously until 1994. At that time, he was also a successful stockbroker in trades.
Career
At the 1995 World Track & Field Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden, Bailey won both the 100 metre sprint and the 4 x 100 metre relay titles.
As a precursor to the centennial Olympics being held in Atlanta, Bailey broke the indoor 50 m world record during a competition in Reno, Nevada in 1996. He was timed at 5.56A seconds. Maurice Greene matched that performance in 1999, but his run was never ratified as a world record. Bailey repeated the "double" at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, setting a world record of 9.84s +0.7 m/s wind in the 100 m (the previous record was set in July 1994 by American Leroy Burrell at 9.85 seconds). Many Canadians felt his victory restored the image of Canadian athletes, which had been tarnished by Ben Johnson's previous disqualified win at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. Bailey was the second person to hold all the major titles in the 100 m concurrently (World Champion, Olympic Champion & World Record Holder); Carl Lewis was the first to achieve this feat.
Bailey won a third world title in 1997 with the Canadian relay team, while finishing second in the 100 m behind Maurice Greene.
After the 1997 season, Bailey ruptured his Achilles tendon during the post season 98; effectively ending his career. He made a second attempt in the 2000 Summer Olympics for Olympic glory but suffered from pneumonia and dropped out during the rounds. He retired from the sport in 2001, having been a five-time World and Olympic champion.
Bailey's time of 9.84 in Atlanta was the 100 m world record from 1996 until 1999, when it was broken by Greene. The time also stood as the Commonwealth record from 1996 until 2005, when it was broken by Asafa Powell, and is the current Canadian record (shared with Bruny Surin since 1999). His Olympic record was broken by Usain Bolt at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Proving Himself the World's Fastest Man
In June 1997, he raced against Michael Johnson in a 150 m race at Toronto's SkyDome in a bid to truly determine who was the world's fastest man. Earlier that year, Johnson began performing television promotions in which he billed himself as "the world's fastest man" as a result of his 200 meters world record, despite the fact that the 100 metres world record holders are traditionally given that unofficial title. Bailey initially refused to take part, stating that "the world's fastest man was decided in Atlanta".
Bailey won $1.5 million for winning the race, in which Johnson pulled up around the 100 m mark with an injured quadriceps muscle which many believed he faked. Fans at the event booed Johnson for what appeared dropping out while Bailey was ahead of him past the 100 meter mark.
After racing
After racing, Bailey started his own company called DBX Sport Management, which helps amateur athletes find a way to promote themselves.
Bailey also owns a sports injury therapy center in Oakville.
He has been inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame twice. Once in 2004 as an individual, and in 2008 as part of the 1996 Summer Olympics 4x100 relay team.[1]
In August 2008, Bailey worked as a track commentator for CBC Television at the 2008 Summer Olympics. He estimated that had Usain Bolt not slowed up at the 100m dash, he would have run a 9.55 [2]
Family
Bailey's half-sister, Arlene Duncan, is a television actress currently starring in the Canadian television sitcom Little Mosque on the Prairie.
References
- ^ "Yzerman, Lewis among Canada's Sports Hall of Fame inductees". The Sports Network. 2008-05-13. Retrieved 2008-05-13.
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(help) - ^ CBC Television, Olympic Morning, 16 Aug 2008
See also
External links
- 1967 births
- Living people
- People from Oakville, Ontario
- Ontario sportspeople
- Black Canadian sportspeople
- Athletes at the 1996 Summer Olympics
- Athletes at the 2000 Summer Olympics
- Canadian sprinters
- Jamaican athletes
- Fenerbahçe athletes
- Olympic athletes of Canada
- Canada's Sports Hall of Fame inductees
- Jamaican immigrants to Canada
- Olympic gold medalists for Canada