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Donovan Bailey Facts & Worksheets

a Jamaican-born Canadian sprinter who specialized in the 100-metre dash

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Donovan Bailey is a Jamaican-born Canadian sprinter who specialized in the 100-metre dash, winning a gold medal in the event at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

See the fact file below for more information on Donovan Bailey or alternatively, you can download our 24-page Donovan Bailey worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

Childhood and Early Life

  • Donovan Bailey was born in Manchester, Jamaica on December 16, 1967 to George and Daisy Bailey.
  • At age 13, Bailey moved to Oakville, Ontario, Canada, in 1981 to live with his father. 
  • He later enrolled in Queen Elizabeth Park High School where he was a part of the track team and established a record of 10.65s in a 100m dash.
  • After high school, he went to Sheridan College, Oakville where he played forward for the basketball team for one season, while finishing a degree in business administration.
  • After finishing college, Bailey ventured in marketing and investment – consultancy business and ran an import-export clothing business.
  • Sports became his hobby, and he occasionally entered sprint races. In 1991, he started taking part in 100m sprints and won the 60-metre dash competition at the Ontario indoor championships.
  • In August of the same year, he bagged a silver medal in 4 × 100 meter relay in the Pan American Games held at Havana, Cuba.
  • But since he trained sporadically in his earlier years, he did not play for the Canadian track team  in the 1991 world championships or the 1992 Olympics.

Career

  • In 1993, Bailey was inducted as a member of the Canadian team at the World Championships and trained under track and field coach Dan Pfaff.
  • With time, he improved on his technique and style, which led to improving his overall techniques to reach a polished style meant for winning races.
  • As a result, he ranked eighth in the world in the 100-metre dash. He also earned his first gold with the 4 × 100-meter relay event at the 1994 Commonwealth Games at Victoria in British Columbia, Canada.
  • In spring of 1995’s Canadian track and field championships, he set a Canadian record of 9.91 sec in 100-meter race.
  • He also set the Bernie Moore Track Stadium (Louisiana) record after posting a time of 9.99 seconds on 22nd of April.
  • That same year, he earned gold medals for the 5th World Championships in Athletics, and in the men’s 4 × 100 meter relay.
  • In the February 1996 track and field season, he set the world indoor record of 5.56 seconds in the men’s 50m race at the Reno Air Games in Nevada. 
  • In June, Bailey won the men’s 100m race at the Canadian Olympic trials in Montréal, clocking to 9.98 seconds. 
  • The following month, he finished second at the Athletissima Grand Prix in Lausanne, Switzerland, posting the second-fastest time of his career of 9.93 seconds.
  • In the 1996 Olympic Games, Bailey clocked 9.84 seconds on his 100m race and won gold for Canada. He became the second Canadian to win the Olympic gold medal in the men’s 100m, following Percy Williams who won gold at the 1928 Olympic Games.
  • The Canadian men’s 4x100m also won the gold medal. From left to right: Bruny Surin, Glenroy Gilbert, Donovan Bailey and Robert Esmie defeated the favoured American squad.
  • The following year, he raced and defeated American sprinter Michael Johnson at SkyDome (now Rogers Centre) in a 150m exhibition race earning the title of the “world’s fastest man.”
  • At the World Championships in 1997, Bailey won the silver medal clocking at 9.91 seconds. 

Follow your passion, be prepared to work hard and sacrifice, and, above all, don’t let anyone limit your dreams. 

– Donovan Bailey
  • Team Canada also defended its men’s 4x100m relay its title with a best time of 37.86 seconds.

Injuries and End of Career

  • From 1998 to 2001, Bailey continued to race. But subsequent injuries, most notably a torn Achilles tendon in 1998, hampered his performance.
  • He made a return in 2000 and won the 100m Spitzen Leichtathletik Luzern race with a time of 9.98 seconds. 
  • However, he failed to qualify for the Olympic men’s 100m final on the 2000 Olympic Summer Games in Sydney due to pneumonia.
  • Because of a serious knee injury, Bailey also failed to qualify for the final in the 2001 World Championships in Edmonton.
  • He retired the same year and subsequently worked as a television commentator.

Honors and Awards

  • 1996 – Canadian athlete of the year (Lou Marsh Award) , Canadian Press male athlete of the year (Lionel Conacher Award), Member of the 1996 Olympic relay team (Canadian Press Team of the Year Award)
  • 2004 – Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame individual athlete
  • 2005 – Inducted (Ontario Sports Hall of Fame) 
  • 2008 – Member of the 1996 Olympic 4x100m relay team, (Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame)
  • 2016 – Order of Ontario

Donovan Bailey Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle that includes everything you need to know about Roberto Clemente across 24 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Donovan Bailey worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Donovan Bailey who was a Jamaican-born Canadian sprinter who specialized in the 100-metre dash, winning a gold medal in the event at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Donovan Bailey Facts
  • Types of Running Events
  • Jamaican Pride
  • Writing about Donovan
  • A Good Athlete
  • Donovan Said…
  • Basic Stance
  • Running 100m
  • Our Pride
  • Poem of Success
  • Type Racer
  • Remember: Stay Fit!
  • Let’s Run

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Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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