Olympic champion sprinter Bruny Surin chosen as Canada's chef de mission for Paris 2024
CBC
He's an Olympic champion, world champion, an Order of Canada member and now Bruny Surin can add Team Canada chef de mission for the Paris 2024 Olympics to his long list of accomplishments.
The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) made it official on Friday morning more than two years ahead of the Summer Games.
"I received a call from the COC board to tell me I was the chosen one for Paris and I was just jumping up and down," Surin told CBC Sports. "Even as I'm talking to you now I am at a loss for words. I'm so excited. I'm so happy. And you know, since my retirement, I've always wanted to stay involved with athletes with the new generation to stay in the Olympic movement. This is a great gift."
The 54-year-old, who lives in Montreal, is best known for his involvement in one of the country's greatest sporting accomplishments.
Surin was part of Canada's 4x100m relay team in 1996 that won gold at the Atlanta Olympics, handing the U.S. it's first-ever loss in the event at a Games.
WATCH | COC names Bruny Surin as chef de mission for Paris 2024:
Surin competed for Canada at four Olympics, beginning as a long-jumper in 1988 in Seoul before switching to sprinting. He was inducted into the Canada Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.
An entrepreneur, athlete, coach, mentor and father, Surin said he'll be able to lean on so many of his life experiences to help lead Canada in Paris as chef de mission, whose primary role is to serve as a spokesperson for athletes in the lead-up and during an Olympics.
"You know what, it's not something that happened overnight. That's something that I was thinking, I would say at least from the last two Olympics. I reached out and told the COC my intention to be involved in everything. Good things happen to those who wait," Surin said.
His mantra ever since he was competing as an athlete has been "the me I see is the me I'll be" – and Surin said he saw himself in the role of chef de mission for Team Canada.
"From years ago, I pictured myself in that role. And that is happening. You know, that's why I said to people, you have to be patient, you have to always think positive, you have to do the work," he said.
"I'm going to give it my all. This is something that I am going to take it very, very seriously."
Surin was originally born in Cap-Haïtien, Haiti before moving with his family to Canada in 1975.
He remembers what his mom shared with him when they first arrived in Quebec to begin their life in a new country.
Premier Doug Ford says his government plans to give Toronto's Billy Bishop Airport special designation that would allow the province to bypass municipal and provincial laws as it pushes to expand the runway downtown.
Jenelle Hughes says she worries every time her two older children take their car to get to Fanshawe College in London, Ont., from their home in Dutton.
Oil prices fell Monday morning after President Donald Trump said the U.S. would hold off on striking Iran’s energy infrastructure amid productive talks between the two countries.
While spring technically started late last week, Newfoundland and Labrador isn't free from winter weather just yet.
The Sudbury School Bus Consortium is suspending all school buses in Greater Sudbury as the community continues to clean up following a major storm.
Two large corporate landlords owning a combined 9,008 rental units in Halifax are reporting smaller annual increases in their average rents for 2025 than the previous year.
The Holt government has reached a deal with Ottawa on compensation for tens of millions of dollars in lost sales tax revenue from the Christmas season in 2024.
The government of Saskatchewan has announced plans to reduce the length of non-resident game bird hunting licences to combat illegal guiding.
An 87-year-old Alberta man is fighting extradition to the United Kingdom to stand trial for historical allegations of physical and sexual assault involving minors.
Eight casinos across southwest B.C. have been sold to First Nations in the last two years, with the province's gambling scene set to be reshaped as a result.
Hamilton hosts the Junos Sunday, and the musical awards show is bringing tourists, musicians, concerts and a ton of themed events to the city this week.
The multi-million-dollar deal at the heart of a high-profile fight between the Canadian government and one of the world’s biggest carmakers contains multiple clauses about the company’s footprint in Ontario, according to a copy obtained by CBC Windsor.
In recent months, Calgary police have carried out three day-long safety blitzes, parading out dozens of officers to flood an area with their increased presence — at least, temporarily.