Donovan Bailey

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Olympic medalist
Center
Donovan Bailey
Medal record
Men’s athletics
Olympic Games
Gold 1996 Atlanta 100 m
Gold 1996 Atlanta 4x100m relay
World Championships
Gold 1995 Gothenburg 100 m
Gold 1995 Gothenburg 4x100 m relay
Gold 1997 Athens 4x100 m relay
Silver 1997 Athens 100 m

Donovan Bailey (born December 16, 1967) is a Canadian former athlete.

Born in Manchester, Jamaica, Bailey emigrated from Jamaica to Canada at age 13, 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.

The following year saw his international breakthrough. At the World Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden, Bailey won both the 100 metre sprint and the 4 x 100 metre relay titles.

He repeated that double win 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 2nd person to hold all the major titles in the 100 m concurrently (World Champion, Olympic Champion & World Record Holder); Carl Lewis was the first.

Bailey won a third world title in 1997 with the Canadian relay team, while finishing second in the 100 m behind Maurice Greene.

Main article: Bailey-Johnson 150-metre race

In June of 1997, he raced against Michael Johnson in a 150 m race at Toronto's SkyDome (now Rogers Centre), in a bid to truly determine who was the world's fastest man. He won $2 million for winning that race, in which Johnson pulled out at the 100 m mark with an injured quadriceps muscle.

After that season, Bailey struggled with injuries and, in the 2000 Summer Olympics, pneumonia, and never reached his previous level of performance. 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 100m 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).

Donovan Bailey set the indoor world record in the 50 metres (5.56A, in Reno, Nevada, in 1996); Maurice Greene matched that performance in 1999, but his run was never ratified as a world record.

He now has his own company called DBX Sport Management, which helps amateur athletes find a way to promote themselves.

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[edit] External links

Preceded by
Jacques Villeneuve		 Lou Marsh Trophy winner
1996		 Succeeded by
Jacques Villeneuve
Olympic champions in men's 100 m
1896: Tom Burke | 1900: Frank Jarvis | 1904: Archie Hahn | 1908: Reggie Walker | 1912: Ralph Craig | 1920: Charlie Paddock | 1924: Harold Abrahams | 1928: Percy Williams | 1932: Eddie Tolan | 1936: Jesse Owens | 1948: Harrison Dillard | 1952: Lindy Remigino | 1956: Bobby Joe Morrow | 1960: Armin Hary | 1964: Bob Hayes | 1968: Jim Hines | 1972: Valeri Borzov | 1976: Hasely Crawford | 1980: Allan Wells | 1984: Carl Lewis | 1988: Carl Lewis | 1992: Linford Christie | 1996: Donovan Bailey | 2000: Maurice Greene | 2004: Justin Gatlin


Olympic champions in men's 4×100 m relay
1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996
2000 2004
1996 Canada Robert Esmie, Glenroy Gilbert, Bruny Surin & Donovan Bailey
Persondata
NAME Bailey, Donovan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Canadian athlete, Olympic medalist
DATE OF BIRTH December 16, 1967
PLACE OF BIRTH Manchester, Jamaica
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
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