Donovan Bailey

Donovan Bailey
Donovan-Bailey at the ASV sports festival in Cologne 1997
nation	Canada
birthday	December 16, 1967
place of birth	Manchester ,  Jamaica
size	183 cm
Weight	82 kg
Career
discipline	sprint
Best performance	9.84 s ( 100 m )
status	resigned
End of career	2001
Medal table
Olympic games 2 × 0 × 0 × World championships 3 × 1 × 1 × Commonwealth Games 1 × 0 × 0 ×
Olympic games gold Atlanta 1996 100 m gold Atlanta 1996 4 × 100 m  World championships gold Gothenburg 1995 100 m gold Gothenburg 1995 4 × 100 m gold Athens 1997 4 × 100 m silver Athens 1997 100 m  Commonwealth Games gold Victoria 1994 4 × 100 m

Donovan Bailey (born December 16, 1967 in Manchester Parish , Jamaica ) is a retired Canadian athlete .

Bailey was born in Manchester Parish, Jamaica . His family immigrated to Canada when he was 13 years old. Before graduating from high school, he played basketball . He began to take part in athletics competitions in 1991, but initially only as a leisure activity. He also worked successfully as a stock exchange trader . It was not until 1994 that he concentrated on top-class sport.

Just a year later, he made his international breakthrough. At the World Championships in Gothenburg he won both over 100 meters and the 4 x 100 meter relay .

He repeated this double success at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta . In the 100 meter race, he set a new world record with 9.84 seconds. Many Canadians felt that this success restored the good image of Canadian athletes that had been ruined by Ben Johnson's doping scandal . At the 1997 World Championships he won relay gold again and was second in the 100-meter race behind Maurice Greene .

Fastest man in the world?

In his spectacular 200-meter world record run in Atlanta in 1996, Michael Johnson achieved an average speed of 37.267 km / h, which meant two 100-meter times of 9.66 s each. These were well below Donovan Bailey's 100-meter world record (9.84 s) at the time, which led to Johnson being voted the "fastest man in the world" by many primarily local media. The fact that this alleged phenomenon is caused by the fact that the second hundred meters in the 200-meter run is covered with a flying start was not taken into account. Likewise the fact that Pietro Mennea already achieved a value in his record run in 1979 in Mexico City with 36.511 km / h, which corresponded to two 100-meter times of 9.86 s each and only twelve years later on this distance from the US American Carl Lewis was hired. On the other hand, in athletics, the 100-meter world record holder has always been considered the fastest man in the world, since the highest speeds are traditionally achieved on the short sprint distance. Thus, Bailey also claimed this right for himself, as he not only held the record at that time, but was also the reigning Olympic champion and world champion over the 100 meters. The fact that, with Michael Johnson, not only a proven long sprinter, but also an American raised serious doubts about the legality of this title, subsequently led to a bitter rivalry between the two athletes. Finally, a duel between the two stars was set for the summer of 1997, which should clearly clarify the question of the "fastest man". The race distance was set at 150 meters in order to create a compromise between the different special routes of the main players. In addition to the running duel, other comparisons between well-known representatives of athletics were also planned. B. in the long jump between Heike Drechsler and Jackie Joyner-Kersee . Since the project was announced, the sporting purpose of this event has been questioned repeatedly. Quite a few observers saw the real reason for this staging, dubbed by many as a "circus event", in making US athletics more attractive for sponsors again. By the mid-1990s at the latest, the Americans had to give up their dominance in the short sprint area. In addition, one of the last great figureheads, Carl Lewis, was retired from the stage. Michael Johnson should be built up to the new superstar. On June 1, 1997, this event was finally held under the name One-to-one Challenge of Champions in the SkyDome in Toronto . More than 60 countries bought the TV rights to this event, the climax of which was undoubtedly the duel over the 150 meters. For the winner of this run alone, which was carried out under the motto The world's fastest man , a hitherto unique premium of 1.5 million dollars was estimated.

The race itself could not answer the question of who should be honored to be the fastest person in the world. Although Donovan Bailey secured the prize when he crossed the finish line first with a time of 14.99 s, Michael Johnson gave up in the middle of the race. Bailey's reason for a muscle strain in his thigh was treated with scorn and ridicule, which cast another shadow over the event. Since Johnson was clearly behind from the start after a weak start, it was speculated by not a few observers that he wanted to forestall a defeat by giving up. Bailey apologized the next day for his verbal lapses, but the allegation that this event was questionable could not be refuted.

After that, Bailey always struggled with injuries and was no longer able to build on his previous performances. In 2001 he announced his resignation. Bailey still holds the indoor world record over 50 meters and the Canadian record over 100 meters.

Bailey is an athlete ambassador for the development aid organization Right to Play .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Matthias Krause: Money, honor and a pinch of patriotism. In: Berliner Zeitung . May 31, 1997, accessed July 10, 2015 . 
2. ↑ Jens Weinreich: Running Gag. In: Berliner Zeitung . June 3, 1997, accessed July 10, 2015 .