Over the next couple of weeks, we'll be revisiting some great moments in Canadian Summer Olympic history on the days they happened. Today we're jumping the gun, a la Linford Christie, and taking you back to July 27, 1996.
After one week of competition in Atlanta, Canada was still looking for its first gold medal of the 1996 Summer Olympics.
That changed on a Saturday morning, when Marnie McBean and Kathleen Heddle rowed to the top of the podium in the women's double sculls. With the victory, McBean and Heddle became the first Canadians to win three Olympic gold medals (they both won a pair at the 1992 Barcelona Games).
Later that night, Donovan Bailey stepped into the blocks for the final of the men's 100-metre dash. Canadians were hoping the defending world champion could help erase the memories of 1988, when Ben Johnson was stripped of his Olympic gold after testing positive for the banned anabolic steroid stanozolol.
After a mediocre start, Bailey burst past his competition, crossing the finish line in a world-record time of 9.84 seconds. Bailey dedicated the victory to his uncle Keith, who was dying of pancreatic cancer. What Bailey didn't know is that his uncle had died prior to the race, but his family kept the news from him until after his record-breaking run.
A week later, Bailey added another gold in the 4x100 relay along with teammates Bruny Surin, Glenroy Gilbert and Robert Esmie.
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