PARIS — Donovan Bailey, one of Canada’s greatest Olympians, was just 20 and not yet an elite sprinter when Ben Johnson disgraced himself and the nation by testing positive for a banned steroid at Seoul 1988.
Like all Canadians, Bailey was disappointed. As a black Canadian of Jamaican descent, like Johnson, Bailey said he was impacted personally. As the man who would emerge from the shadow cast by Johnson’s cheating to win 100-metre and 4×100-metre gold medals at Atlanta 1996, Bailey knew he could never afford even an unintentional misstep on or off the track.
So Bailey cannot understand, nor does he have tolerance for the cheating scandal that has embarrassed the Canadian women’s soccer team and Canadian Olympic Committee officials at Paris 2024.
“When I was competing, I understood the responsibility of representing my country, of carrying the weight of my nation and probably carrying the weight of other people’s mistakes,” Bailey said Friday from Toronto. “So I cannot understand that in 2024 anyone who is representing our country does not realize that. If you are representing an entire nation, if you are representing 35 million people or whatever the number is today, you’ve got to understand what your responsibilities are.”
Two low-level Canada Soccer employees were kicked out of the Games for conducting drone surveillance of a New Zealand practice. When Canada Soccer determined that similar conduct predated these Games, women’s head coach Bev Priestman was suspended and will not coach the team here.
The scandal has dominated COC media availabilities and cast a pall on the Canadian presence in Paris. That prompted Bailey to issue some advice to athletes here.
“When I was inside the system, I knew what my responsibility was as a leader, so I was extremely hard on all the other athletes. I’m like, ‘man you’ve got to understand we are all competing under a shadow and we have to understand what our responsibilities are, people.’
“That’s what I’ll say to the soccer team now, especially them because unfortunately the light is shining on them because of this situation. But I will say it right across the board to all the athletes; just remember and understand that every single human being is watching you, so just be responsible and know that whatever you drink, whatever you eat, whatever you do, whatever you say, you are representing not just yourself, your family and your country, but you should be a shining example of what Canada is.”
In the leadup to Atlanta 1996, Bailey and the 4×100 relay team were at the top of their game as reigning world champs, and there was no way he was going to allow innuendo to taint their results.
“Understanding the history, I knew that if I am going to be an athlete, I am never going to take drugs, I am never not going to represent Canada the way it is supposed to be,” said Bailey. “Because the role for me is to do my very best and hope and pray that at the end of the day I get serenaded by the national anthem.
“So when I heard the news about the soccer team, I’m like, what are they thinking? I mean, how can you not understand that you’ve got five billion people watching? It’s the only time every four years that the entire planet is zeroing in on every single step that you make.”
He said he was always mindful of protecting himself and his family from scandal.
“The No. 1 thing for me was that I was representing my parents. No chance in hell I could (mess up). That was the No. 1 thing. Yes, I am representing myself and my country, but to bring shame to my family was something I was never going to do. Right out of the gate I had to accept responsibility for everything I did.”