Canadian Olympic Committee – TORONTO (May 4, 2018) – The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) has announced that four-time Olympian Bruny Surin will lead Team Canada as Chef de Mission at the Youth Olympic Games Buenos Aires 2018.

Surin was born in Cap-Haïtien, a small Haitian city, and moved with his family to Montreal when he was seven years old. He would mature into a premier track athlete and compete at the 1988, 1992, 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games in athletics. After first making his mark as a long jumper, he became one of the world’s elite sprinters.

At Atlanta 1996, Surin teamed with Donovan Bailey, Glenroy Gilbert, Robert Esmie and alternate Carlton Chambers to win Olympic gold in the 4x100m relay – a first for Canada and the first time anyone had defeated the United States in the event.

While Surin won two world titles in the 4x100m relay, he enjoyed great individual success as well, including back-to-back 60m gold medals at the 1993 and 1995 IAAF World Indoor Championships and 100m silver medals at the 1995 and 1999 IAAF World Championships. His personal best mark of 9.84 seconds in the 100m makes him a co-owner of the Canadian record.

A member of both the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame and Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame, Surin hasn’t slowed down since retiring from athletics. He has been busy as a father, businessperson, motivational speaker and philanthropist running a foundation to promote the benefits of a healthy lifestyle by conducting awareness campaigns for young students.

The Youth Olympic Games is the world’s largest multi-sport competition for young high-performance athletes aged 15-18. Taking place October 6-18 in Argentina’s capital, Buenos Aires 2018 will feature 3998 athletes from 206 countries competing in 32 summer sports.

QUOTES:

“It is a great honour to have been chosen to lead an amazing team of young athletes as Team Canada’s Chef de Mission for the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games. My Olympic experiences were a defining part of my life and I look forward to this opportunity to give back to the Canadian sport community. Thank you to everyone at the COC for trusting me with this opportunity. I look forward to leading our incredible next generation of Canadian Olympians.”

– Bruny Surin, Olympic champion, Athletics

“Bruny’s incredible wealth of experience and his passion for the values of sport will be difference makers for our team. He was an outstanding competitor and is now an equally dedicated and enthusiastic advocate for youth activity in sport. I am so pleased that he will be leading our team in Buenos Aires 2018.”

– Tricia Smith, President, Canadian Olympic Committee

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MEDIA CONTACTS:

Joshua Su, Coordinator, Communications
Tel: 416-324-4303 / Cell: 647-464-4060
Email: jsu@olympic.ca

Photi Sotiropoulos, Director, Communications and Media Relations
Canadian Olympic Committee
Tel: 416-324-4298 / Cell: 416-476-9174
Email: psotiropoulos@olympic.ca