Olympic gold medallist Bruny Surin loses race to be elected Laval municipal councillor

Canadian athlete Bruny Surin, poses for a photo prior to competing in the the men's 50-metre event at the McGill track and field open in Montreal on Dec., 5, 2009. (Graham Hughes / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

MONTREAL — Parti Laval’s Michel Trottier has been elected as a municipal councillor for Laval’s Marc-Aurèle-Fortin riding, beating Olympic champion Bruny Surin.

The byelection took place Sunday, electing Trottier with 35.28 per cent of the vote (1,501 votes).

Surin, who ran under Laval Mayor Marc Demers’ party, Mouvement lavallois, lost to the frontrunner by just 82 votes.

The Canadian sports hall of famer received 33.36 per cent of the votes (1,419 votes). He had announced last October that he would take a run at municipal politics.

The other candidates were Action Laval’s Francine Leblanc (29.41 per cent; 1,251 votes) and Progrès Laval’s Gabriel Vellone (1.95 per cent; 83 votes).

Of 16,501 potential electors, records with Élections Laval confirm that 4,254 people showed up to the ballot box.

The byelection was called after councillor Gilbert Dumas passed away last August.