Bruny Surin (born July 12, 1967) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

former

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete, winner of a gold medal in the 4×100 metres relay at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. In 2008 he was inducted into

Canada's Sports Hall of Fame Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (french: Panthéon des sports canadiens; sometimes referred to as the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame) is a Canadian sports hall of fame and museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Dedicated to the history of sports in Canad ...

as part of the 1996 Summer Olympics 4x100 relay team. In the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

, he has broken the

10-second barrier The 10-second barrier is the physical and psychological barrier of completing the 100 metres sprint in under ten seconds. The achievement is traditionally regarded as the hallmark of a world-class male sprinter. Its significance has become less i ...

multiple times and holds a personal record of 9.84 seconds.

Career

Surin was born in

Cap-Haïtien Cap-Haïtien (; ht, Kap Ayisyen; "Haitian Cape"), typically spelled Cape Haitien in English and often locally referred to as or , is a commune of about 190,000 people on the north coast of Haiti and capital of the department of Nord. Previousl ...

Haïti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and so ...

, and moved to Québec City with his family in 1975. He made his debut for Canada at the 1987 Pan-American Games, placing fifteenth in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

, a result he repeated at the 1988 Olympics. After the Olympic Games in Seoul in 1988, manager Enrico Dionisi brought Surin to

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centuri ...

and he was trained by the Italian coach Franco Barucci. Barucci persuaded Surin away from his favoured long jump event, in favour of the

100 m 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

. Barucci predicted he could run 10.10 seconds for the event. Surin won the following Canadian championships in 10.14 seconds. At the

1990 Commonwealth Games The 1990 Commonwealth Games ( mi, 1990 Taumāhekeheke Commonwealth) were held in Auckland, New Zealand from 24 January – 3 February 1990. It was the 14th Commonwealth Games, and part of New Zealand's 1990 sesquicentennial celebrations. Partic ...

, Surin won a bronze medal in 100 m and was seventh in the long jump. At the 1991 World Championships, Surin was eighth in the 100 m, and at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

he was 4th in the 100m and reached the semifinals as a member of Canadian 4 × 100 m relay team. At the 1993 World Championships, Surin was fifth in 100 m and won a bronze medal as a member of Canadian 4 × 100 m relay team. At the

1994 Commonwealth Games The 1994 Commonwealth Games ( French: ''XVéme Jeux du Commonwealth'') were held in Victoria, British Columbia, from 18 to 28 August 1994. Ten types of sports were featured at the Victoria Games: athletics, aquatics, badminton, boxing, cycling, ...

, Surin won the gold medal in 4 × 100 m relay and was eliminated in the semifinal of 100 m. Competing for the province of Quebec, Surin edged out

Donovan Bailey Donovan Bailey (born December 16, 1967) is a retired Jamaican-Canadian sprinter. He once held the world record for the 100 metres. He recorded a time of 9.84 seconds to win the gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games. He was the first Canadian ...

to win gold in the 100 m at the 1994 Francophone Games in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

with a games record time of 10.08 seconds. At the 1995 World Championships, Surin won a silver medal in 100 m, behind compatriot Bailey, and a gold medal as a member of Canadian 4 × 100 m relay team. At the

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

, the Canadian relay team were not favoured, although they had won almost all of the titles available during the previous two years, but they had done it in absence of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

team. However, in the 4 × 100 m relay final, the Canadian team beat United States by almost half a second, establishing itself the best relay team in the world. Surin also reached the semifinal of 100 m in the same competition. Surin and the Canadian team won a gold medal again at the 1997 World Championships and a silver medal at the 1998 Goodwill Games. He was also seventh in 100 m at the 1997 World Championships and won a silver medal in 100 m at the 1999 World Championships. His time matched

's Canadian record of 9.84. At the time, this was the fastest losing time in a 100 m race. At the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

, Surin, one of the gold medal favorites, had not fully recovered from a leg injury sustained at the Canadian championships earlier that summer, and was eliminated in the semifinals of the 100m after slowing down visibly in pain and walking the rest of the way through the finish line. His last major championship race was in the semifinals of the 100 m at the 2001 World Championships, where he injured himself again and was pushed off the track in a wheelchair. In 2009, Surin became the new Canadian 50 metres record holder (40-45 age group) with a time of 6.15s at the McGill Open. In May 2022, Surin was named Team Canada's chef de mission for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

Honours

In 2016, he was made a Knight of the

National Order of Quebec The National Order of Quebec, termed officially in French as ''l'Ordre national du Québec'', and in English abbreviation as the Order of Quebec, is an order of merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Gove ...

Book: ''Bruny Surin, le lion tranquille''

In 2009, a biography cowritten by Bruny Surin and Saïd Khalil entitled ''Bruny Surin, le lion tranquille'' was published by ''Éditions Libre Expression'' in Montreal. The book covers Bruny Surin recounting 17 years of his sports career. In the book, Surin criticizes doping, describing it as a gangrene that ails athletics and all other sports. Surin emigrated to Canada with his family in 1975. His father lost his family in the

2010 Haiti earthquake A disaster, catastrophic Moment magnitude scale, magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest (department), Ouest department, a ...

. He has two daughters. Surin ran for a seat on

Laval City Council The Laval City Council is the governing body in the mayor–council government in the city of Laval, Quebec, Canada. It is composed of the mayor and 21 councillors. They are elected to four year terms with the next election scheduled for November ...

in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

on November 24, 2019, but lost by 82 votes.

References

External links

Career

Honours

Book: ''Bruny Surin, le lion tranquille''

See also

References

External links