Just call him Mr. On-the-Go. Canadian sprint icon Bruny Surin raced to fame and Olympic gold in the 1990s. Now he has reinvented himself as an entrepreneur.
Today, Montreal-based Mr. Surin runs the sports-marketing firm Top Elite Management, which represents Priscilla Lopes-Schliep, the only medalist for Canada at the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing.
In addition, the Bruny Surin Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the lives of children, both physically and mentally. Every year it awards a bursary to a student athlete. Mr. Surin also speaks at schools and corporate training events. In September he launched a women's sports clothing line to accompany a men's line begun earlier in the year. He also markets Xistence, a natural supplements line.
Mr. Surin was born in Au-Cap-Haitien, Haiti, in 1967. He moved to Canada at age seven with his family.
He started out as a long jumper, and competed in the 1988 Olympics. But an ankle injury in 1989 made him turn his attention to running. From 1988 to 1989, he dropped his time for the 100 metres to 10.14 seconds from 10.71.
Mr. Surin went on, with Glenroy Gilbert and Donovan Bailey, to help rebuild the sport in Canada. The effort culminated in 1996 with a pair of gold medals on the Olympic track at Atlanta. Among Mr. Surin's career highlights: He was a world silver medalist in the 100 metres in 1995 and 1999; world gold medalist with the Canadian relay team in 1995 and 1997; and Olympic gold medalist with the Canadian relay team in 1996.
His best time in the 100 metres was 9.84 seconds at the 1999 world championships in Seville, Spain, where he tied for the fourth-fastest time in history.
Earlier, Mr. Surin took your questions, talking about his career and what he is working on today.
Dave Michaels, globeandmail.com: Hi Bruny, and thanks for taking time to chat with us today. Let's get right to the questions.
As you made the transition from athlete to entrepreneur, what has motivated you? What gets you up in the morning, and keeps you going through the day?
Bruny Surin: When I started track and field I had a model – the Chagnon family in the cable business, Donald Trump in real estate, Pierre Karl Peladeau in printing. I was fascinated to see these people start from scratch and make multimillion dollar businesses. So I read their stories, and two years before I retired for good I put my plans into motion.
What gets me up in the morning is that I know for a fact if I don’t get the work done, nobody will do it for me. It is exactly like in athletics – you don’t become an Olympic champion by staying in bed. There is a lot of work to do.
From Christine Mushka, globeandmail.com: Drug scandals have apparently harmed attendance at track-and-field meets. Crowds still turn out for the Olympics, but attendance has been down for other meets. What do you think track has to do to bring back the crowds of spectators?
Bruny Surin: I don't want to contradict you, but I believe it's the economic crisis that makes the attendance lower. It is very hard for the sponsors to keep putting millions in sponsorships into track events, etc. It's sad to say, but any drug issues didn't make people go see fewer track meets, from what I saw.
From Chris McPherson: Bruny, I believe that you single-handedly saved Canadian track and field in the dark and gloomy years post-Seoul, and I want to thank you for doing so. You were an inspiration to me throughout my own high school and university track career.
