Bryan Saunders

Born Trinidad and Tobago, Bryan Saunders came to Canada in 1960 and was raised in Toronto. He was the son of Milton Saunders, a native of Mandeville, Jamaica, and Iva Smith, originally from Trinidad. His parents were both devout Seventh-Day Adventists and members of the “Original 8” as Black pioneers of their faith community in their adopted home of Toronto. They both worked at local hospitals, his mother as a nurse at Mount Sinai and his father as a chef at Wellesley.

Bryan Saunders attended Georges Vanier Secondary School in North York where he became a keen track competitor. He then accepted scholarships to attend college in the United States from 1973 to 1974 in North Platte, Nebraska and at Bishop State Community College in Alabama, during which time he took a break from competition due to religious reasons. Returning to competition by 1975, he regained notice in the Canadian athletics scene by running a 400 metres in 45.9 at a college track meet in America, which made him a strong prospect for the 1976 Olympic team. He was a member of the Canadian 4×400 metres relay team at the 1975 Pan American Games in Mexico (alongside Glenn Bogue, Don Domansky, and Ron Jackson) and 1975 Summer Universiade in Italy, which won a pair of bronze medals. Saunders also competed in the 400 metres at the 1975 Pan American Games, finishing sixth.

At the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, Saunders competed in the 400 metres and as a member of the 4×400 metres team, recording a Canadian record with his teammates Ian Seale, Don Domansky, and Leighton Hope with a time of 3:02.64 in the latter and narrowly missing out on the bronze medal. He also competed in both events eight years later at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, and also scored a fifth place finish in the 400 metres at the 1979 Pan American Games. Following his athletics career, Saunders continued to reside in the Toronto area until his death in 2022 at the age of 69.

Personal Best: 400 – 45.68 (1977).