Golden Boy

On July 27, 1996, in Atlanta, Donovan Bailey won the Olympic gold medal in the men’s 100 metres, becoming the fastest man in the world. I was six years old and instantly hooked. I looked up at my parents and said, “When I grow up, I’m going to beat him.”

Sitting on our living room floor in Oshawa, I thought there could be nothing better than wearing “Canada” across my chest and representing the entire country. I wanted to know what it felt like to have thousands—if not tens of thousands—of people pulling for me. From that moment, it was my mission to become an Olympian.

I was not destined to be a sprinter, however, and I would never challenge Bailey’s 9.84 seconds. But I did find success in longer races, and in grade 11, my coach suggested I try the steeplechase, an event that traces its roots to horse racing. In the eighteenth century, riders in Ireland would race thoroughbreds from one town’s steeple to the next—jumping over whatever...