Olympic Warrior takes viewers behind the scenes,
contrasting the sprinter's brash public persona with an easy-going
family man who describes himself as "a shy, gentle
guy with a big heart."
The candid documentary follows Bailey on a Grey Cup weekend
in Winnipeg, to his surprise 31st birthday party and home
to Oakville. "I'm a very hard person to live with
if you're not as meticulous as I am," says the
double gold medallist. Girlfriend Michelle Mullin confirms
Bailey has an "obsessive-compulsive" personality.
But "It's that obsession which has brought me my success,"
Bailey says.
Olympic Warrior chronicles one of the most tumultuous years
of Bailey's life from a near fatal car accident in 1997 to
a career-threatening Achilles tendon injury in 1998.
The documentary presents the only images of Bailey's remarkable
rehabilitation, which takes him from crutches to the track
in ten weeks. We also watch Bailey compete in Europe
and North America in 1998, suffering a stinging loss to American
arch-rival Maurice Greene in New York, only to demolish him
a week later in Paris.
Bailey shows remarkable resilience and reveals a complex
personality struggling for balance between a quiet home life
and the highly aggressive world of power sprinting.
As the countdown begins to the year 2000 Games in Sydney,
Australia, Bailey is undaunted by the idea of winning gold
again. He plans to become the only 100-meter runner
in history to cross the finish line first in two Olympic finals.
"I've always set my sights real high, " Bailey says,
"Sydney is going to be beautiful."
Original Air Date - March 15, 1999
Links
Donovan
Bailey Official Web site
Donovan
Bailey bio (Canoe.ca)
(Note: CBC does not endorse the content of external sites)
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