On the 186th episode of Listen In With KNN on Fox Sports 1340AM/96.9 FM, host Kelsey Nicole Nelson welcomed Olympic gold medalist and Canadian Sports Hall of Fame inductee Donovan Bailey.
Bailey triumphantly won gold in the 100m at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta with a time of 9.84 seconds Bailey was asked his memories about the infamous event, “Well I know who won… the Olympics I was favored to win, I was the reigning world champion, I had won the world championship in Sweden the year before, so going into Atlanta I knew that basically, it was for me to lose,” said Bailey. “I had prepared very well all year, I was at the University of Texas getting ready and we had gone through every single scenario and I knew that Linford was going to try and get a fast start.”
Bailey’s journey to being a Hall of Famer and Olympic gold medalist started when Bailey was a teen growing up in Jamaica. Bailey recognized his talent when he was 11-years-old and realized that he was one of the fastest kids on the island and he knew he was pretty good then. Bailey started playing basketball in high school and continued playing when he moved to Canada during his college years. At one time in his life, Bailey had set his sights on the NBA but soon realized that he was undersized. After college, Bailey became a banker but wanted more in life after years of being in the office. Bailey was influenced by two friends of his that were trying out for the World Championships in Tokyo on the Canadian team.
Usain Bolt beat Donovan Bailey’s sprint record of 27.07 mph with a time of 27.78 mph. Nelson asked Bailey what Usain Bolt means to him as a Jamaican-born professional athlete, and he said, “Well the one I think that ‘s incredible is that I utilized the time that I had, in brand expansion and selling the sport. I Kind of transcended my sport, one of the things I’ve loved from what I did to what Bolt has done is that. He’s been incredible, he’s been probably the greatest ambassador for a sport ever.”
During the 1996 Olympics, Bailey won an additional gold medal in the 4×100-meter relay. When asked about winning the gold in the 4×100-meter relay, Bailey said, “What’s incredible about the relay is, although track and field is an individual sport like golf, it’s incredible when you can get the guys that are trying to beat you every day together and motivate them to do something that has never been done in history.” Bailey and the Canadian 4×100-meter relay team finished with a time of 37.69 seconds to win the gold medal. Bailey was hard on his fellow teammates. “I let them know that I’m hard on you and if you come focused, you work hard, you are disciplined, and if you show up and you are ready, you’re going to live the rest of your life as a champion.”
The 96’ Olympic games will always be remembered as a time when tragedy struck. During the 1996 Summer Olympics, a domestic terrorist pipe bombing attack happened in Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta. When asked what he remembers from that trying time, Bailey said, “That was probably one of the scariest things. In the 1996 Olympics, there were four rounds for my event. What happened was I had competed, I had run my heats, quarterfinals, then came back and my chef made me a great meal and then went to bed. I woke up the next morning and my coach looked at me and told me there was a bombing. I thought he was joking and I said I’m in my zone buddy just leave me alone. He walked over to the television, picked up the remote, and turned it on and I was like oh my God he was right.” When he reflects on his mindset during the time of chaos after the bombing, Bailey said, “I knew I was there to do a job, I knew I had to get focused, I knew I had to relax and see where my talent was going to take me and move on.”
In 2004, Donovan Bailey was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame for his accomplishments in the Olympics. Soon after, he was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2005. In Donovan Bailey’s free time, Bailey has expanded into being a brand ambassador, a portfolio of residential real estate developments, restaurateur, and media commentator for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. He’s currently working with them on their Olympics in Tokyo coverage amongst other ventures.
