Donovan Bailey facing third driving-related charge

Donovan Bailey, once the fastest man on the planet and an idol to millions of track fans in Canada and around the world, has been charged with having a blood-alcohol level of more than 80 milligrams while driving a car in Toronto.

Bailey, 44, was not at College Park Court on Monday for a first appearance on a charge, commonly referred to as “being over .08.”

Bailey, who gave his address to the Toronto police who stopped him as St. James, Jamaica, was reportedly in his native country Monday promoting the upcoming London Olympics where he is to be a TV commentator for the Canadian media consortium covering the games.

The matter was put over to June 11 for a pre-trial conference.

According to the information filed in court, Bailey was stopped by police on March 28 in Toronto and administered the breathalyzer test. The police record does not say where or what time of day Bailey was stopped by police in the downtown 51 Division.

This is the third time the Canadian icon — a five-time world and Olympic champion and inductee into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame — has been before the courts on driving related charges.

Bailey captured the hearts of Canadians at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics where he won the gold medal and set a new world record of 9.84 in the 100-metre sprint.

Two years later his image was somewhat tarnished.

In May 1998, Bailey was fined $200 for failing to report an accident after he left the scene of a single-car cash that totalled his $80,000 Mercedes.

The car, awarded to him for a gold medal performance at the 1995 track and field championships in Sweden, struck a concrete utility pole, flipped over and caught fire.

Bailey emerged from the wreck without injury. Passersby offered to get him medical attention but Bailey refused and asked to be driven home instead. Police arrived at his home five hours later.

At the time, Crown Attorney Paul Renwick told the court that a more serious charge of careless driving was withdrawn because there was “no reasonable prospect of a conviction.” Bailey was assessed three demerit points over the accident.

Three years later, in December 2001, Bailey was convicted of driving a Mercedes-Benz 200 kilometres an hour on the Queen Elizabeth Way and fined $975.

An Ontario Provincial Police officer testified he tracked Bailey’s black Mercedes doing 200 km/h in the slow lane of the westbound QEW between Mississauga Rd. and Erin Mills Parkway at 3:34 in the morning. Bailey lived in Oakville at the time, but apparently has since sold his mansion there.

“He runs fast and he drives fast, except now he’s going to slow down,” his lawyer Paul Stunt said as he left court. Bailey was at a track meet in Italy at the time and did not appear in court.

Under the Highway Traffic Act Bailey lost six demerit points but his licence was not suspended.

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After his racing career ended Bailey started his own company called DBX Sport Management, which helps amateur athletes find ways to promote themselves, and a sports injury clinic in Oakville, Ont.

If convicted of the current charge Bailey faces a fine and licence suspension.