Bailey was born in
Coventry,
Warwickshire, England. She first came to international attention at the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton in 1978. In 1980, she won gold in both
100 metres and
200 metres at the first Pan American Junior Track and Field Championships in Sudbury, defeating the favoured American sprinter
Michele Glover decisively in both distances. She was selected for the 1980 Olympic team but Canada boycotted the
Moscow event. Bailey won all her races on a tour of New Zealand in late 1981, which included three gold medals at the
Pacific Conference Games in the 100m, 200m and 4 x 100m relay. She placed fourth in the
100 meters and seventh in the
200 metres at the 1982 Commonwealth Games, and was again fourth in the
100 metres in 1986. She won a
silver medal for the
4×100 m relay at the
1978 Commonwealth Games, and did so again in both the
1982 and
1986 games. At the
1983 World Championships, Bailey placed fifth in the 100 metres, seventh in the
200 metres and fifth in the 4×100 m relay. At the
1984 Los Angeles Olympics, she came in sixth in the 100 metres and won a
silver medal in the 4×100 metres relay with
Marita Payne,
Angella Taylor and
France Gareau. Bailey was a two-time
All-American for the
UCLA Bruins track and field team, finishing 4th in the 4 × 100 meters relay and 5th in the 4 × 400 meters relay at the
1985 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Originally fourth in the 60 metres final at the 1987 World Indoor Championships, Bailey was promoted to the bronze medal in 1989, due to the disqualification of Canadian team-mate
Angella Issajenko after the
Dubin Inquiry. She set the Canadian 100 metres record with 10.98 secs on 6 July 1987 in Budapest, and went on to finish seventh in the 100 metres final at the 1987 World Championships in Rome. She was a quarter-finalist in the
100 metres at the
1988 Seoul Olympics. ==Death==