Confident Bailey backs up Undisputed status

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This article was published 15/11/2023 (989 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Donovan Bailey spent 11 years making history on the track. Now the Canadian icon has authored a memoir of his lifelong race, one he shared in Winnipeg on Wednesday.

The two-time Olympic gold medal sprinter visited McNally Robinson Booksellers for a 90-minute Q and A to promote his recently published autobiography Undisputed: A Champions Life.

Bailey signed dozens of copies of his book and sat down with local radio personality Ace Burpee to detail his writing experience, relive some of his greatest moments on the track — including his ‘world’s fastest man’ 150-metre race against American Michael Johnson — and field some questions about his career from those in attendance.

“I’ve been asked about a book for many years,” Bailey, who will be 56 in December, said. “I’ve been the subject or topic or part of many books over the years. My relevance is still No. 1. I’m still the only world record holder (in Canada), I’m still the Canadian record holder here today. The book is called Undisputed because, in the 150-year history of this country, I am the only one that’s ever done it.

“Why not a book? Why not now?”

Indeed, Bailey, born in Jamaica but raised in Oakville, Ont., from the time he was 12, is one of the greatest track athletes of his generation, compiling two Olympic golds, three world championships and setting two world records — one of which (the indoor 50-metre race) still stands today — between 1990 and when he retired in 2001.

He was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2004 and again in 2008, the only person to be enshrined twice.

Bailey still boasts the confidence that spurred him to stardom but admitted he was humbled during a lengthy writing process that began before the pandemic.

“It is the hardest and most tedious thing that I’ve ever done in my life,” said Bailey, who still lives in Oakville. “One: you have to remember things that you don’t remember. Two: thank God I have a whole bunch of training partners and friends that I’m still friends with that they can remind me of those things. Three: I have so much respect for journalists who do this for a living — journalists who do either written or verbal.

“It is very hard to talk about yourself, it’s very hard to write about yourself and it’s very hard to remember things — especially in times like now when there are a billion sound bites in every minute of every day.”

Bailey’s 288-page memoir relives his humble beginnings in the streets of Manchester, Jamaica, to his teenage years in Oakville and his meteoric rise that peaked at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta where he set a world record in the 100m event and anchored Canada to its first gold in the 4x100m relay.

Bailey also credits boxer Muhammad Ali for having an influence on him and details some darker moments, such as his experience with racism, narratives that were formed about him and the death of George Floyd.

“I think going through and talking about my life’s body of work and kind of understanding the landscape in society that we are today, what it does show in the book — and the entirety of the book — is that I still got a lot of work to do,” he said.

“I think that I want to let most people know — let all people know — that if you don’t put in the work you won’t get the results. And also patience is a hell of a thing, and we all need to have it.”

Though the process of authoring a memoir was strenuous, Bailey said his work as a writer is not done. He plans to publish at least two more books.

“There’s more,” Bailey said. “One of the things I’ve found in writing this book is that there’s so much more that’s untold and what has happened since the book has been written.”

Undisputed: A Champions Life can be purchased at McNally Robinson for $35.

jfreysam@freepress.mb.ca

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