McDonald Bailey
 | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationality | British/Trinidadian | |||||||||||
| Born | 8 December 1920 Williamsville, Trinidad and Tobago | |||||||||||
| Died | 4 December 2013 (aged 92) Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago | |||||||||||
| Height | 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) | |||||||||||
| Weight | 65 kg (143 lb) | |||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | |||||||||||
| Event | Sprints | |||||||||||
| Club | RAF Polytechnic Harriers | |||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||
| Olympic finals | 1948 London 1952 Helsinki | |||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||
Emmanuel McDonald Bailey (8 December 1920 – 4 December 2013) was a British and Trinidadian athlete, who was born in Williamsville, Trinidad and Tobago and competed at two Olympic Games.[1]
Biography
[edit]In March 1946, Bailey won a bronze medal in the 1946 Central American and Caribbean Games. He followed this by becoming both the British 100 yards champion and the British 220 yards champion after winning the British AAA Championships titles at the 1946 AAA Championships.[2][3]
Bailey repeated his AAA success at both the 1947 AAA Championships before he represented the Great Britain team at the 1948 Olympic Games in London, where he finished sixth and last in the final.[4]
Bailey recorded the impressive feat of winning the double of 100 and 220 yards at every AAA Championship from 1949 to 1953 bringing his title count to 14 senior sprint titles (a record still held as of 2025).[5][6]
In between the title wins Bailey went to another Olympic Games, representing the Great Britain team at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, where he won the bronze medal.[7][4]
He jointly held the 100 m world record at 10.2 seconds between 1951 and 1956 and won the sprint double seven times at the AAA Championships. In the 1948/9 season he worked on fitness and speed with Queen's Park Rangers F.C. who won their first ever promotion that season, from Football League 3rd Division South to Football League 2nd Division.
In 1953 he joined rugby League club Leigh, but he only played in one friendly match for them.[8]
in 1977 Bailey was awarded Trinidad and Tobago's Chaconia Medal (Gold).[citation needed]
Competition record
[edit]| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing  Great Britain
| |||||
| 1948 | Olympics | London, England | 6th | 100 m | |
| 1952 | Olympics | Helsinki, Finland | 3rd | 100 m | 10.83/10.4 |
References
[edit]- ^ McDonald Bailey's profile at Sports Reference.com
- ^ "Swede first to win AAA title". Daily Herald. 20 July 1946. Retrieved 7 April 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "AAA results". Daily News (London). 22 July 1946. Retrieved 7 April 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ a b "Biographical Information". Olympedia. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
- ^ "AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists". National Union of Track Statisticians. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
- ^ "AAA Championships (men)". GBR Athletics. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
- ^ "T&T loses an icon in Mc Donald Bailey | Trinidad Express Newspaper | Sports". Archived from the original on 6 December 2013. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
- ^ Miller, David (12 December 2000). "Bailey stop-watch ticks on". Telegraph Media Group (telegraph.co.uk website). Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2007.
Bailey briefly became a rugby league professional with Leigh, at the suggestion of Eddie Waring, but muscle tears resulted in his playing only one game, against Wigan
Alt URL
- 1920 births
- 2013 deaths
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1948 Summer Olympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics
- British male sprinters
- Central American and Caribbean Games bronze medalists for Trinidad and Tobago
- Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in athletics
- Competitors at the 1946 Central American and Caribbean Games
- English rugby league players
- Leigh Leopards players
- Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics
- Olympic athletes for Great Britain
- Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field)
- Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain
- Recipients of the Chaconia Medal
- Trinidad and Tobago emigrants to the United Kingdom
- Trinidad and Tobago male sprinters
- 20th-century Trinidad and Tobago sportsmen