Running News Daily

Olympic champion Donovan Bailey spills his Paris 2024 predictions

The Canadian men's 100m record holder is a huge Olympic fan

Like most Canadian track and field fans, 1996 Olympic champion and former 100m world record holder Donovan Bailey is eagerly awaiting the start of athletics at the Paris Olympics (the sprint events begin Friday). With a deep roster of Canadian athletes making their Olympic debuts or returning for another Games, Bailey has high hopes for breakthrough performances and trips to the podium, and he shared his top picks for the sprint events with us.

The Canadian 100m record holder has bumped watching the Olympics to the very top of his to-do list. Since sprinting runs in his blood, it’s no surprise he’s excited to watch the Canadian men’s and women’s 100m and 4x100m relay performances; he also looks forward to cheering on 2023 world champion Marco Arop as he aims to upgrade his 800m semi-final finish at Tokyo 2020 with a trip to the podium in Paris.

Men’s 100m predictions

The 100m prodigy isn’t certain where he should place his bets for who will take gold in the men’s 100m. He believes the two Jamaicans, Kishane Thompson and Oblique Seville, should be favored, along with the reigning world champion, Noah Lyles. But Bailey suggests not overlooking Team USA’s Fred Kerley and the three Africans (Letsile Tebogo, Akani Simbine and Fernidand Omanyala).

“The match-up is going to be fierce,” Bailey says. Of course, we can expect him to be cheering the loudest for Canada’s Andre De Grasse, Duan Asemota and Aaron Brown.

Women’s 100m favorites

On the women’s side, he agrees that Sha’Carri Richardson is the obvious favorite, on paper. “My sentimental favorite would be Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce,” Bailey says. “She’s one of the greatest female sprinters, and one of the greatest ambassadors for our sport. It’s her last Olympics, so it would be great to see her win.”

Bailey expressed the most excitement for Quebec’s Audrey Leduc, even though she will likely have to run two personal bests to get through the 100m rounds. He believes the 25-year-old is still untested, and will face less pressure in Paris than she did at the Canadian Olympic Trials in June.

“She made running fast look so effortless.” Bailey says. “I think she’ll break the Canadian record, and if she puts herself in a good situation, maybe she’ll make the final and shock a lot of people. I think she’s going to do amazing.”

(08/01/2024) Views: 182 ⚡AMP
by Cameron Ormond

Canadian sprinting legend Donovan Bailey to coach on Canada’s Ultimate Challenge

The fastest man in Canadian history, Donovan Bailey, is taking his talents to a coaching role on Canada’s Ultimate Challenge, which premieres tonight on CBC Television and CBC Gem.. Bailey is a two-time Olympic champion and three-time world champion, but managing people on the big stage is something he’s used to.

Bailey shared his wealth of coaching and relay experience with Team Red on the new reality show, in which six coaches mentor teams at site-specific physical challenges.

“Managing athletes is absolutely not new to me,” laughs Bailey. “Being the leader for one of the greatest teams in Canadian history (the anchor of Canada’s 4x100m relay team from 1994 to 1997) helped me to be able to deal with different personalities.”

When Bailey was invited to be a captain on the show, he wanted to be clear he was interested in coaching, but not competing. The premise of Canada’s Ultimate Challenge has a lot of similarities to the way Bailey used to help his teammates prepare for the bright lights on the track.

Whatever task Bailey’s Team Red was assigned, it was his responsibility to help guide them.

“From my professional life, I enjoyed the lights and showing up when it mattered,” says Bailey. “The Ultimate Challenge is different–competitors are in their own heads, and it’s useful to understand the nuisances that come with managing all different skill sets.

“I was able to develop an incredible bond with my team, and at the end of the day, no one quit or wanted to give up,” he adds.

Although Bailey has been away from sprinting for more than 20 years, he says he’s envious of the new generation. “Nowadays, athletes get to see content captured from every moment during competition and behind the scenes. In my era, you only got a photo if you won.”

Bailey’s 100m best of 9.84 seconds from the 1996 Olympics still stands as the Canadian record, but he says his long-time coach, Dan Pfaff, believes that, if he’d had the benefit of today’s shoe tech, he could have run 9.4 to 9.5 seconds.

The 55-year-old has been a regular Olympic sprint analyst with CBC Sports since the 2008 summer Games. One of his highlights as an analyst was watching the Canadian men’s 4x100m relay team win gold at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Ore. 

“Knowing how hard it was for us to do in the 90s, I felt like a proud dad watching the boys win,” Bailey says. “It was amazing to see Canadian sprinting come full circle. I had full confidence in this team, with Andre De Grasse as their great leader. He is a competitor, and if you give him the baton, he will never disappoint.”

(02/17/2023) Views: 813 ⚡AMP
by Running Magazine

Canada's Andre de Grasse wins 200-meter gold

Andre de Grasse of Canada has won the Olympic gold medal in the men's 200 meters five years after finishing second to Usain Bolt, ending a string of close calls for the 26-year-old.

De Grasse won in a national-record time of 19.62 seconds, holding off two Americans for the medals.

Kenneth Bednarek won silver in a personal-best 19.68 seconds, and 2019 world champion and race favorite Noah Lyles took bronze in 19.74. Erriyon Knighton, the youngest member of the U.S. men's track team at 17, placed fourth in 19.93.

De Grasse has now filled out a medal collection that was missing only a gold. He won bronze four nights earlier in the 100 meters to go with the third-place medal he took in Rio de Janeiro. He also won a silver in the 200 in Rio, when he famously challenged Bolt in the semifinal -- drawing a playful finger wag -- before being blown away by the Jamaican champion in the final.

Given all he has been through, it was no surprise when De Grasse revealed that he had been crying behind the bronze-colored shades he wore for the race.

"It's my first time being so emotional on the track," said De Grasse, the first sprint gold medalist for Canada since Donovan Bailey won the 100 at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. "I always thought I came up short winning bronze and silver, so it's just good to have that gold medal. No one can take that away from me."

Lyles made a mistake the night before in the semifinals, slowing down too far before the line, getting edged out for the two automatic spots and being forced to wait to see if his time would earn him a qualifying spot.

It cost him in the final. Forced to start in Lane 3, Lyles pushed out too quickly. He had the lead heading into the homestretch but had nothing more to give.

(08/05/2021) Views: 1,175 ⚡AMP
by ESPN News Services

Michael Johnson Expected to make a full recovery, from a mini-stroke

American sprinter 50-year-old Michael Johnson, who once billed himself the “world’s fastest man” revealed that he was recovering at home this week after suffering a transient ischemic attack (TIA), or mini-stroke. Heart issues have apparently been ruled out, and Johnson is expected to make a full recovery. And he referred to himself, once again, as a former “world’s fastest man” in his announcement, as reported by Britain’s Daily Telegraph: “It seems these things can affect anyone, even the once fastest man in the world!” A TIA is a temporary blockage of blood flow to the brain. It does not cause permanent damage, but it may be an indication that a stroke is imminent. Johnson won 12 world and Olympic gold medals for the U.S. over his career, and was the first to win both the 200m and the 400m at the same Olympics. He was the world 200m record-holder when, in 1997, a 150m race was arranged between him and Canada’s Donovan Bailey in Toronto’s SkyDome to settle the matter of the “world’s fastest man.” Bailey had run the fastest-ever 100m at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, and had become a world champion in 1995. (09/10/2018) Views: 1,957 ⚡AMP