Robert Esmie (born July 5, 1972) is a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 athlete, winner of the gold medal in the 4x100 m relay

Relay race

During a relay race, members of a team take turns running, orienteering, swimming, cross-country skiing, biathlon, or ice skating parts of a circuit or performing a certain action. Relay races take the form of professional races and amateur games...

 at the 1996 Summer Olympics

1996 Summer Olympics

The 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States....

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Born in Jamaica

Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

 and raised in Sudbury, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Esmie formed along with Glenroy Gilbert

Glenroy Gilbert

Glenroy John Gilbert is a Canadian former athlete, winner of gold medal in 4x100 m relay at the 1996 Summer Olympics....

, Bruny Surin

Bruny Surin

Bruny Surin is a Canadian athlete, winner of a gold medal in the 4x100 m relay at the 1996 Summer Olympics. In 2008 he was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame as part of the 1996 Summer Olympics 4x100 relay team.-Career:...

 and Donovan Bailey

Donovan Bailey

Donovan Bailey is a retired Canadian sprinter, who once held the world record for the 100 metres race following his gold medal performance in the 1996 Olympic Games. He was the first Canadian to legally break the 10-second barrier in the 100 m...

 the world's best 4x100 m relay team in the mid-1990s.

Esmie placed seventh (10.23) in the second semi-final of the 100m and won a bronze medal in 4x100 m relay at the 1993 World Championships

1993 World Championships in Athletics

The 4th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held in the Gottlieb Daimler Stadium, Stuttgart, Germany between August 13 and August 22 with the participation of 187 nations....

. At the 1994 Commonwealth Games

1994 Commonwealth Games

The 1994 Commonwealth Games were held in Victoria, in the province of British Columbia in Canada, from 18 August to 28 August 1994.The XV Commonwealth Games marked South Africa's return to the Commonwealth Games following the apartheid era, and over 30 years since the country last competed in the...

, Esmie won the gold medal in 4x100 m relay.

In 1995, Esmie won a bronze medal in 60 m at the World Indoor Championships and was again a member of gold medal winning Canadian 4x100 m relay team at the 1995 World Championships

1995 World Championships in Athletics

The 5th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Ullevi Stadium, Gothenburg, Sweden between August 5 and August 13.This edition featured 1804 athletes from 191 nations....

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At the Atlanta

Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...

 Olympics

Olympic Games

The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

, the Canadian relay team weren't the favourites. Although they had won almost all the titles available during the last couple of years, they were earned in the absence of the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. However at the Olympics 4x100 m relay final, the Canadian team beat United States by almost half a second, to establish itself as the best relay team in the world. Esmie was not originally slated to run with the relay team in Atlanta, but replaced Carlton Chambers

Carlton Chambers

Carlton Chambers is a retired sprint athlete from Canada, and a winner of gold medal in 4x100 m relay at the 1996 Summer Olympics. He only ran in the preliminary heats, the final race was won by Robert Esmie, Glenroy Gilbert, Bruny Surin, and Donovan Bailey...

 the night before the race.

Esmie and the Canadian team won a gold medal again at the 1997 World Championships

1997 World Championships in Athletics

The 6th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece between August 1 and August 10, 1997. In this event participated 1882 athletes from 198 participant nations...

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In 2008 he was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame

Canada's Sports Hall of Fame

Canada's Sports Hall of Fame is a hall of fame established in 1955 to "preserve the record of Canadian sports achievements and to promote a greater awareness of Canada's heritage of sport." It is located at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, Alberta...

as part of the 1996 Summer Olympics 4x100 relay team.