Donovan Bailey Biography

(The First Canadian to Legally Break the 10-second Barrier in the 100 m)

Birthday: December 16, 1967 (Sagittarius)

Born In: Manchester Parish, Jamaica

Donovan Bailey is a Canadian former sprinter. He is an Olympic gold medalist who became the first Canadian to achieve the sub-10 seconds time in 100m sprint. During the 1996 Olympic Games held at Atlanta he set a new world record of 9.84s +0.7 m/s wind in 100 m. Bailey was reputed for his remarkable speed, most notably his 27.07 mph (12.10 m/s) title run in the 1996 Olympic Games. He also set a world record of 5.56 seconds in indoor 50m dash at Reno, Nevada, in 1996. His major accomplishments included two gold medals in Olympic Games, one in 100m and the other in 4 × 100 m relay, both in 1996; one gold and one silver medal in 100m in 1995 and 1997 respectively and two gold medals in 4 × 100 m relay in 1995 and 1997 at the World Championships; one gold medal in 4 × 100 m relay event in the 1994 Commonwealth games; and two silver medals in 4 × 100 m relay event in 1991 and 1999 at the Pan America Games. He is the second sprinter after Carl Lewis who concurrently held all the major titles in 100m dash – the World Record holder, the Olympic champion and the World Champion. He was inducted in the ‘Ontario Sports Hall of Fame’ in 2005; and twice in Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, first as an individual sprinter in 2004 and then in 2008 as a part of the 4 × 100 relay team of the 1996 Summer Olympics.

8
Quick Facts

Canadian Celebrities Born In December

Also Known As: Donovan Anthony Bailey

Age: 56 Years, 56 Year Old Males

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: Michelle Mullin

father: George Bailey

mother: Daisy

children: Adrienna

Born Country: Jamaica

Athletes Canadian Men

Height: 6'1" (185 cm), 6'1" Males

Notable Alumni: Sheridan College

More Facts

education: Sheridan College

  • 1

    What was Donovan Bailey's world record in the 100m sprint?

    Donovan Bailey set a world record of 9.84 seconds in the 100m sprint at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

  • 2

    How did Donovan Bailey first get involved in track and field?

    Donovan Bailey initially started as a competitive sprinter in high school before pursuing track and field professionally.

  • 3

    What major injury did Donovan Bailey overcome during his career?

    Donovan Bailey overcame a ruptured Achilles tendon in 1998, which required surgery and extensive rehabilitation.

  • 4

    Did Donovan Bailey participate in any other sports besides track and field?

    Apart from track and field, Donovan Bailey also had a brief stint as a professional basketball player in the early 1990s.

  • 5

    How did Donovan Bailey contribute to the promotion of athletics in Canada?

    Donovan Bailey actively supports and promotes athletics in Canada through various initiatives, including coaching and mentorship programs for young athletes.

Childhood & Early Life
He was born on December 16, 1967, in Manchester, Jamaica, to George Bailey and his wife Daisy as one of their five sons. He would wake up with the first light of the day and take care of the pigs, chickens and goats of his family and then attend school.
In 1981 he immigrated to Canada to live with his father in Oakville, a suburban town in Southern Ontario. There he joined the ‘Queen Elizabeth Park High School’ and became a part of the track team of the school.
When he was 16 he participated in a 100m dash, which he completed in 10.65s. However he was more of a basketball enthusiast than a sprinter.
After completing high school education he attended ‘Sheridan College’, Oakville and studied economics. In college he participated in the basketball team playing forward for one season.
Continue Reading Below
Career
He received a diploma in business administration following which he ventured in marketing and investment-consulting business. He also ran an import-export clothing business. He bought his own house in Oakville at 22 years of age and owned a Porsche 911 convertible.
However among all these he always harboured his love for sports that saw him entering sprint races occasionally. Gradually he started to train himself seriously in the sports and in 1991 he started taking part in different 100m sprints as a part-timer. That year he emerged winner of the 60m dash at the Ontario indoor championships.
In August 1991 he bagged a silver medal in 4 × 100 m relay in the Pan American Games held at Havana, Cuba.
He was inducted as a member of the Canadian team at the World Championships in 1993, where he was introduced to imminent American track and field coach Dan Pfaff. Bailey started training under Pfaff and with time improved on his technique and style, which led to improving his starts as also consistency in his pace throughout the run.
The 100m dash was structured by Bailey as 20 m of start, next 50 m of acceleration and last 30 m of relaxation.
Although his first gold came with the 4 × 100 m relay event at the 1994 Commonwealth Games at Victoria in British Columbia, Canada, his gradual improvement as a sprinter saw him sealing the eighth position in world ranking in 100m dash by the turn of 1994.
In spring of 1995, for the first time he achieved sub-10s timing in 100m. During the Canadian track and field championships held in July that year he set a Canadian record of 9.91 sec in 100m.
His first major gold medal came in 1995 with the 5th World Championships in Athletics held in Gothenburg, Sweden, winning him the 100m title. His further accomplishment in the championship was a gold medal in the men’s 4 × 100 m relay that year.
In 1996 he succeeded in breaking the indoor 50m world record by setting his own new record of 5.56 seconds in a competition held In Reno, Nevada, US. Although this timing of Bailey was equalled in 1999 by American former track and field sprinter Maurice Greene, the run by the latter was not ratified as a world record.
Continue Reading Below
Bailey triumphed in both the 100m and 4 × 100 m relay events at the 1996 Olympic Games held at Atlanta, Georgia, US, thus winning two gold medals in Olympics that year. Not only had he won the 100m title in Olympics that year but also set the new world record of 9.84s +0.7 m/s wind in 100 m dash. This record was later surpassed by a new world record of 9.79 s (+0.1 m/s wind) in 1999 by Maurice Greene.
In 1997 he captured another World Championships title winning gold medal along with the Canadian relay team in the 4 × 100 m relay event held at Athens, Greece. However he finished second at the 100m dash in the World Championships that year and had to remain content with a silver medal, while Greene outshined as the winner.
He clinched his next major win in May 1997 in the ‘SkyDome’ stadium in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in a one-to-one 150 m sprint against American sprinter Michael Johnson in a bid to ascertain who among the two was the world’s fastest man. Earlier that year Johnson publicized himself as ‘the world’s fastest man’ while performing in TV promotions. Bailey won the race in 14.99 seconds and earned $1.5 million, the highest prize in the history of athletics, while Johnson grasped his thigh in pain.
Bailey met with a career-ending injury in September 1998 when he ruptured his Achilles tendon in the middle of a basketball game he was playing with friends. He struggled to walk after a surgery of the tendon.
However overcoming all odds he succeeded in making a comeback and won a silver medal in 4 × 100 m relay of the 1999 Pan American Games, at Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
He regained the numero uno position as a sprinter in Canada by 2000, however failed to win any international title.
He took retirement in 2001.
He founded the ‘Donovan Bailey Foundation’ in 2002 to help amateur athletes in Canada.
In 2003 Bailey along with other athletes and sports executives established the DBX Sport Management, a company that aids amateur athletes. He also opened a sport injury clinic in Oakville, Ontario.
During the 2008 Summer Olympics, he served CBC Television as a track commentator.
Personal Life & Legacy
In 2004 he married British born Realtor Michelle Mullin, his girlfriend of 12 years, in the Half Moon Hotel, Montego Bay, Jamaica. He presently lives with Michelle and daughter Adrienna in his home in Oakville, Ontario.
Facts About Donovan Bailey

Donovan Bailey holds the world record for the 100m sprint, with a time of 9.84 seconds.

In addition to his success in track and field, Bailey is also a successful businessman and motivational speaker.

Bailey was born in Jamaica and moved to Canada as a child, where he eventually became a naturalized citizen.

He was known for his signature pose of pointing to the sky before his races, a gesture that symbolized his focus and determination.

Bailey's impressive speed and athleticism earned him a spot in Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.

See the events in life of Donovan Bailey in Chronological Order

How To Cite

Article Title
- Donovan Bailey Biography
Author
- Editors, TheFamousPeople.com
Website
- TheFamousPeople.com
URL
https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/donovan-bailey-7576.php

People Also Viewed

Ben Johnson Biography
Ben Johnson
(Canadian)
 
Stefka Kostadinova Biography
Stefka Kostadinova
(Bulgarian)
 
Eilish McColgan Biography
Eilish McColgan
(Scottish)
 
Cathy Freeman Biography
Cathy Freeman
(Australian)
 
Emil Zatopek Biography
Emil Zatopek
(Czech)
 
Gail Devers Biography
Gail Devers
(American)
 
Linford Christie Biography
Linford Christie
(British)
 
Sergey Bubka Biography
Sergey Bubka
(Ukrainian)