Canadian Sport Hero

This article is about Donovan Bailey, a Jamaican-born Canadian sprinter who is regarded as one of the most successful sprinters in Canada. The article covers his biography, sports career summary, and sport contribution to society.

Running head: CANADIAN SPORT HERO
Canadian Sport Hero
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Choice of the Canadian sports hero
The sports hero of Canada that has been chosen to complete this sports assignment is
Donovan Bailey. He is one of the sprinters in the track and field event. He has been very much
successful in various global events including the Olympic as well.
Biography
Donovan Bailey is a Canadian track and field champion but he was born in Jamaica. He
was born on 16th December in the year 1967. Donovan Bailey had to migrate to Canada for
certain reasons when he was aged just 13 (Thecanadianencyclopedia.ca., 2019). He used to play
basketball with John Degenhardt. Then he moved to Oakville in Canada and he had graduated
from there. He had completed his graduation from the Queen Elizabeth Park High School. This
school was located at Ontario. From the year 1991, Donovan Bailey began to compete in the 100
m sprinting in a part time basis. However, it was in the year 1994 when Donovan began to take
this sport in a very serious manner. The coach of Donovan Bailey was the American Dan Pfaff.
During these years, he also had to work as a stockbroker as well. Donovan Bailey has two
children, his daughter Adriene Bailey and his son Mateus Bailey (Thecanadianencyclopedia.ca.,
2019). The father of this sportsman was an African American and his mother belonged to West
Indies. In his personal life, he has four brothers and a sister as well. However, he is a divorced
person and he always wants to live his dream through his sport.
Sports career summary
The sports career of Donovan Bailey is something to look at and be envious of. This is
why he is regarded as one of the most successful sprinters in Canada. After he joined this track
and field event of sports in a fully fledged manner, he had competed in the Fenerbahce Athletics

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during 1993-94 (Britannica.com., 2019). He also became the winner in the world Track and Field
event in the year 1995 as well. It was held at Gothenburf in Sweden. He had conquered both the
events of 100 m sprint and 4*100 m relay titles. This is where his journey began as one of the
most successful athletes of all time. Bailey had also broken the 50 m indoor record at a
competition that was held in Nevada. He was one of the most significant figures before the
beginning of centennial Olympic that was held Atlanta. His record time was 5.56 seconds.
This feat was achieved by Bailey once again in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. The record
was set by Bailey again this time with 9.84 s+ 0.7 m/s wind in the 100 m sprinting. Numerous
Canadians were of the opinion that this achievement by Donovan Bailey was the restoration of
the Canadian pride in the athletics (Britannica.com., 2019). After Carl Lewis, Donovan Bailey
was the second person to hold all the major titles in the track and field events. These titles
include the World Champion, World Record holder and most importantly the Olympic
champion. Bailey had also won the third major world title when he was with the relay team of
Canada in the year 1997. The ending of his career was in the year 1998 because his Achilles
tendon had been devastated after the end of the 1997 season (Britannica.com., 2019). The world
record set by Donovan Bailey was in place from 1996 to 1999. This record had been broken by
the legendary sprinter Maurice Greene and in later years by Asafa Powell. Finally, the Olympic
record of Bailey had been broken by Usain Bolt.
Sport contribution to society
Donovan Bailey was also an activist in the societal activities as well. Bailey had
volunteered in many charitable activities. These organizations include the Right to play,
Canadian Cancer Society, Ontario Lung Association, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada, Nine

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Miles of Smiles and ParticipACTION (Thecanadianencyclopedia.ca., 2019). Thus he is noted for
being a gentle soul and having encouraged young people to come up and participate in the track
and field event. Apart from that, he had also founded the Donovan Bailey Foundation so he
could provide support to the amateur athletes of the country. Through his activities, he had been
inducted in the Ontario hall of Fame in the year 2005.

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References List
Britannica.com. (2019). Donovan Bailey | Jamaican-born Canadian sprinter. Retrieved 13
August 2019, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Donovan-Bailey
Thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. (2019). Donovan Bailey | The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved
13 August 2019, from https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/donovan-bailey