Donovan Bailey took 9.84seconds to end the national sense of shame that had festered in every Canadian for eight years; his world record run in the 100m at the Atlanta Olympics on this day in 1996 not only earned him the gold medal but also served to erase the bitter memory of the Ben Johnson scandal.
Like Bailey, Johnson had been born in Jamaica, unlike the new Olympic champion his "triumph" at the Seoul Games of 1988 had been fuelled by steroids and his subsequent disqualification brought disgrace to his adopted country. The Maple Leaf could fly proudly once more.
Not that Bailey's victory was achieved without its dramas and controversies. The world champion had been overshadowed by Namibia's Frankie Fredericks and Ato Boldon of Trinidad & Tobago in the heats and semi-finals, to such an extent that in a poll of 100 journalists and commentators, 98 predicted a bronze medal for the Canadian.
The final was to prove an extended affair after being disrupted by three false starts, two by defending Olympic champion Linford Christie which led to suggestions that he had deliberately beaten the gun in order to secure disqualification in preference to finishing out of the medals as he was almost certain to do.
Understandable, therefore, the seven finalists went into the blocks for the fourth time in an air of trepidation and Bailey recorded the slowest reaction time as Boldon and Fredericks sped to the front.
Forty metres from the finishing line, however, Bailey reined in his rivals and, despite his sluggish start, overhauled them both to shave 0.01sec off the world record set by American Leroy Burrell in Lausanne two years earlier. To add to Canada's sense of pride, Bailey teamed up with Robert Esmie, Glenroy Gilbert and Bruny Surin to strike gold in the 4x100m relay.
As 100m record holder, Bailey assumed the mantle of "the world's fastest man" - a label Michael Johnson, winner of the 200 and 400m in Atlanta, unashamedly hijacked in a series of advertisements.
As track promoters engaged in a bidding war to stage "the showdown of showdowns", a somewhat reluctant Bailey - "The identity of the world's fastest man was decided in Atlanta" - was eventually persuaded to meet Johnson in a made-for-TV 150m dash for a winner-take-all prize of US$1.5 million (Dh5.5m).
Raced on a specially constructed track comprising a 75m bend and 75m straight in Toronto's SkyDome, the gunfight was something of a disappointment. Johnson exploded from the blocks but had been overtaken and left well behind when he pulled up after 110m claiming an injury to his quadriceps muscle.
Bailey, who clearly gestured Come on! to Johnson as he approached the line, made no effort to hide his disappointment that his victory had been tarnished by his opponent's decision to quit. As a successful stockbroker before taking to the track, the pay cheque was scant reward. "He didn't pull up, he's just a chicken. I think we should run this race again so I could whip his a** one more time."
Alas, Bailey's reign as the sprint king was to prove as brief as it had been spectacular; after winning a third world title in Athens in 1997 when he spearheaded the Canadian relay team to yet another flying victory over the Americans, he suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon in pre-season training.
Although it was effectively a career ending injury, Bailey refused to bow to the inevitable, qualifying for the 2000 Sydney Games. Later diagnosed with pneumonia, Bailey finished last in his second-round heat.
But his place in Canadian sporting legend, had long since been secured.
rphilip@thenational.ae
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Mia Man’s tips for fermentation
- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.
- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Mountain%20Boy
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Zainab%20Shaheen%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Naser%20Al%20Messabi%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
THE BIO:
Favourite holiday destination: Thailand. I go every year and I’m obsessed with the fitness camps there.
Favourite book: Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. It’s an amazing story about barefoot running.
Favourite film: A League of their Own. I used to love watching it in my granny’s house when I was seven.
Personal motto: Believe it and you can achieve it.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Top financial tips for graduates
Araminta Robertson, of the Financially Mint blog, shares her financial advice for university leavers:
1. Build digital or technical skills: After graduation, people can find it extremely hard to find jobs. From programming to digital marketing, your early twenties are for building skills. Future employers will want people with tech skills.
2. Side hustle: At 16, I lived in a village and started teaching online, as well as doing work as a virtual assistant and marketer. There are six skills you can use online: translation; teaching; programming; digital marketing; design and writing. If you master two, you’ll always be able to make money.
3. Networking: Knowing how to make connections is extremely useful. Use LinkedIn to find people who have the job you want, connect and ask to meet for coffee. Ask how they did it and if they know anyone who can help you. I secured quite a few clients this way.
4. Pay yourself first: The minute you receive any income, put about 15 per cent aside into a savings account you won’t touch, to go towards your emergency fund or to start investing. I do 20 per cent. It helped me start saving immediately.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Mubalada World Tennis Championship 2018 schedule
Thursday December 27
Men's quarter-finals
Kevin Anderson v Hyeon Chung 4pm
Dominic Thiem v Karen Khachanov 6pm
Women's exhibition
Serena Williams v Venus Williams 8pm
Friday December 28
5th place play-off 3pm
Men's semi-finals
Rafael Nadal v Anderson/Chung 5pm
Novak Djokovic v Thiem/Khachanov 7pm
Saturday December 29
3rd place play-off 5pm
Men's final 7pm
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort: