28 Facts About Donovan Bailey

1.

Donovan Bailey was born on December 16,1967 and is a retired Jamaican-Canadian sprinter.

2.

Donovan Bailey once held the world record for the 100 metres.

3.

Donovan Bailey recorded a time of 9.84 seconds to win the gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games.

4.

Donovan Bailey was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2004 as an individual athlete and in 2008 as part of the 1996 Summer Olympics 4x100 relay team.

5.

Donovan Anthony Bailey was born in Manchester Parish, Jamaica on December 16,1967, as the fourth of five sons to George and Daisy Bailey.

6.

Donovan Bailey immigrated to Canada at age 12 and played basketball before graduating from Queen Elizabeth Park High School in Oakville, Ontario.

7.

Donovan Bailey was exceptionally fast as well, clocking 10.65 seconds in the 100m at the age of 16.

8.

Donovan Bailey graduated from Sheridan with a degree in Business Administration.

9.

Donovan Bailey then began working as a property and marketing consultant for an importing and exporting clothing company.

10.

Donovan Bailey began training as a 100m sprinter part-time, while working as a stockbroker.

11.

In 1992, Donovan Bailey finished second in the 100m at the national championships.

12.

Donovan Bailey went on to win the title in 9.97 seconds, then followed it up by anchoring Canada to their first world championship gold in the.

13.

Donovan Bailey was officially selected to represent Canada at the 1996 Summer Olympics after winning his 3rd consecutive national title in the 100m.

14.

Many Canadians felt Donovan Bailey's victory restored the image of Canadian athletes, after the exposure of Ben Johnson's history of doping.

15.

At the time, Donovan Bailey was only the second person after Carl Lewis to hold all the major titles in the 100m concurrently.

16.

At the 1997 World Championships in Athens, Donovan Bailey attempted to defend his 100m title, but was beaten by Maurice Greene and was forced to settle for the silver medal in 9.91 seconds.

17.

One of his last meets of the season was at the ISTAF Berlin; after finishing 2nd in the 100m, Donovan Bailey ran the first leg of the "Dream Team II" in the relay: Carl Lewis' last race of his career.

18.

Donovan Bailey ruptured his Achilles tendon while playing basketball during the post season of 1998, which effectively began the end of his athletics career.

19.

Donovan Bailey won a silver medal with the Canadian 4 x 100 metre relay team with a time of 38.49 at the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, finishing behind Brazil.

20.

Donovan Bailey was part of the Canadian 4 x 100 metre relay team at the 1999 World Championships in Seville but the team was disqualified in the first round of heats.

21.

Donovan Bailey made a second attempt in the 2000 Summer Olympics, but suffered from pneumonia and dropped out during the rounds.

22.

Donovan Bailey retired from the sport in 2001 after the World Championships in Edmonton, having been a three-time World and 2 time Olympic champion.

23.

Donovan Bailey started a sport injury clinic in Oakville, Ontario.

24.

Donovan Bailey estimated that had Usain Bolt not slowed down near the end of the 100m dash, he could have set a time of 9.55 seconds.

25.

Donovan Bailey returned as the track analyst for CBC's coverage of the 2016 Summer Olympics.

26.

In 2010, Donovan Bailey was one of the recipients of the Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards presented by Canadian Immigrant Magazine.

27.

In 2014, Donovan Bailey pleaded guilty to a drinking and driving charge from 2012.

28.

In 2022, Donovan Bailey was named an officer to the Order of Canada.