Robert Esmie (born July 5, 1972) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

retired sprinter, who was a member of the gold medal-winning Canadian 4 × 100 m

relay A relay Electromechanical relay schematic showing a control coil, four pairs of normally open and one pair of normally closed contacts An automotive-style miniature relay with the dust cover taken off A relay is an electrically operated switc ...

team at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. Born in

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long spit (landform), sand spit which connects the town of Por ...

, and raised in Sudbury,

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Esmie was part, along with Glenroy Gilbert, Bruny Surin and

Donovan Bailey Donovan Bailey (born December 16, 1967) is a retired Jamaican-Canadian sprinter. He once held the world record for the 100 metres. He recorded a time of 9.84 seconds to become Olympic champion in 1996. He was the first Canadian to legally br ...

, of a 4 × 100 m relay team in the mid-1990s. They were number one in the world from 1994 to 1999. Esmie placed seventh (10.23) in the second semi-final of the 100 m and won a bronze medal in the 4 × 100 m relay at the 1993 World Championships. At the

1994 Commonwealth Games The 1994 Commonwealth Games ( French: ''XVéme Jeux du Commonwealth'') were held in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, between 18 and 28 August 1994. Ten types of sports were featured at the Victoria Games: athletics, aquatics, badminton, box ...

, he competed in the 100 metres. Esmie won a bronze medal in the 60 m at the 1995 World Indoor Championships and was again a member of gold medal-winning Canadian 4 × 100 m relay team at the 1995 World Championships. At the

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

the Canadian men's 4 × 100 relay team was not favored despite winning most high-profile titles in the previous three years, including the 1995 World Championships. Leading up to the Olympics, the United States team of Jon Drummond,

Tim Harden Timothy M. Harden (born January 27, 1974) is an American former athlete who competed mainly in the 100 metres. Harden was born in Kansas City, Missouri, where he graduated from Northeast High School in 1992. He also attended the University of ...

, Michael Marsh and

Dennis Mitchell Dennis Allen Mitchell (born February 20, 1966) is an American former college and international track and field athlete, who was a member of the gold medal-winning team in the 4 × 100 metres relay race at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Athletics car ...

claimed they would beat Canada; however, in the 4 × 100 relay final the Canadian team beat the United States by almost half a second to win the gold in national record time. Esmie was not originally slated to run with the relay team due to politics; while Esmie was ranked third in Canada before the relay began but as the team was falling apart they decided to replace Carlton Chambers the night before the race after Chambers suffered a groin injury in the 200 m. Esmie's gold medal was later stolen. Esmie and the Canadian team won a gold medal again from lane 8 at the 1997 World Championships. In 2008 he was inducted into

Canada's Sports Hall of Fame Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (; sometimes referred to as the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame) is a Canadian sports hall of fame and museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Dedicated to the history of sports in Canada, it serves as a hall of fame and mu ...

as part of the 1996 Summer Olympics 4 × 100 relay team. Esmie now runs AirBlastoff Sports, an athletic training program.

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* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Esmie, Robert 1972 births Athletes (track and field) at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Black Canadian sportsmen Black Canadian track and field athletes Canadian male sprinters Commonwealth Games competitors for Canada Jamaican emigrants to Canada Living people Athletes from Kingston, Jamaica Naturalized citizens of Canada Olympic gold medalists for Canada Olympic track and field athletes for Canada Sportspeople from Greater Sudbury Track and field athletes from Ontario World Athletics Championships athletes for Canada World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Indoor Championships medalists Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) World Athletics Championships winners Canadian Track and Field Championships winners