Donovan Bailey

1996 Olympic 100m champion, former WR holder.

Donovan Anthony Bailey was born on 16 December 1967 in Manchester Parish, Jamaica, one of five sons of George and Daisy Bailey, and moved to Oakville, Ontario, Canada, at 13, initially focusing on basketball rather than track after earning a business diploma from Sheridan College. Bailey did not take up sprinting seriously until 1994, having previously built a career in marketing and investment consulting, but rapidly developed into one of the fastest men in the world, winning gold in both the 100m and 4x100m relay at the 1995 World Championships in Gothenburg. Bailey delivered the defining performance of his career at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, winning the 100m in a world record time of 9.84 seconds, reaching a top speed of 12.10 metres per second, the fastest ever recorded by a human at the time, before anchoring Canada's 4x100m relay team to a second gold medal. Bailey's victory helped restore national pride in Canadian sprinting following Ben Johnson's disqualified 1988 Olympic win, and he was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2004, retiring in 2001 after a career-altering Achilles tendon injury, remaining one of the most celebrated sprinters in Canadian history.

Powerful sprinter with exceptional top-end speed

Dominated sprinting in mid-1990s, held 100m world record for 9 years

• 1996 Olympic gold 100m & 4x100m
• former WR
• 1995 World champ 100m