Christopher BROWN

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Updated 6 March 2014

Chris BROWN, Bahamas (400m, 4x400m)

Born 15 October 1978, Eleuthera, Bahamas

1.78m / 68kg 

Coach: Innocent Egbunike

Manager: Oliver Topueth

In the two decades since Chris 'Fireman' Brown left the small settlement of Wemyss Bight, Eleuthera, and switched from running the 800 metres to the 400, he has more than surpassed his own expectations. When one talks about track and field in the Bahamas, no conversation is complete without mentioning Brown, affectionately called Fireman because of the level of energy and enthusiasm that he brings every time he lines up to compete.

He hails from a family renowned for their exploits in one of the most popular sports in the country, despite the fact that the island was not equipped with a proper track and field facility for him to train or compete in. His mother, Nola Brown, was an accomplished sprinter, having set the pace as a "barefoot" competitor, and always had the edge on her husband, Harcourt, when they participated in competitions on the road during their teenage days.

When Chris showed great promise, despite having to play second fiddle to an older brother, Joseph (the first to gain national prominence by traveling on various national teams as a long and triple jumper), his parents made the decision to send their son to Nassau in 1997. There, he enrolled at the RM Bailey Secondary High.

Under the supervision of coach Rupert Gardiner, who incidentally is the head coach of the 2014 World Indoor Championship team, Brown was able to develop his talent and that same year went on to represent the Bahamas in his first international competition as a member of the Bahamas junior team to the Carifta Games, the top regional meet in the Caribbean.

The trip to Bridgetown, Barbados that same year turned out to the genesis of Brown's career as he was able to secure a pair of bronze medals in the under-20 boys 400 and 800 metres.

"When he came to Nassau, I knew that we had a diamond in the rough," Gardiner pointed out. "We were able to polish him off and he turned out to be one of, if not the, greatest track and field athletes to come from Eleuthera."

Also that year, Brown posted an under-20 boys record of 48.02 in the 400m at the Bahamas Association of Athletic Association's National High School Championships that is still standing today. His performances led to the acquisition of an athletic scholarship to Norfolk State in Virginia where Brown had a formidable journey, re-writing records in both events and winning indoor and outdoor titles.

“When I started, I just got into it for fun,” Chris Brown says. “I saw my siblings’ success, and it was a big help and a big encouragement to take it to the next level. They motivated me and vice versa.” By the time he was through with high school, Brown was also through with softball and basketball. The track had become his home. His chosen event was the 800m. His 1:49.54, recorded at the Central American and Caribbean Games in Maracaibo in 1998 when he was 20, established a national record.

It was a huge improvement over the 1:53 he had run two years earlier in a vain attempt to make the Bahamian team for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Hugely disappointed, he was ready to quit. “I wasn’t fast enough,” he says, “and I wanted to just hang it up.” Then came the intervention of Michael Coakley, whom Brown described as “coach, motivator, everything.” Coakley saw the 17-year-old at a meet, just watching, and asked why he wasn’t running. “I had no motivation for the sport,” said Brown. “But he said I had more in me, and he got me back.”

Although back on the track, Chris was not back in the 800m for long. “I looked at the 400 and thought that was something I could be good at,” he says. “I had doubled up a little before, but I wanted to make my job a little easier, just go one lap, so I tried it one day and won. So I decided to take it up and step it up.” As he improved, Brown set for himself two major goals in athletics. One was to climb the podium at a World Championships or Olympics in an individual event, and the other was to help the Bahamas bring home a gold medal in the 4x400m at a global meet.

In 2009, Brown was inducted into Norfolk State University's Hall of Fame, following in the footsteps of another Spartans alumni, sprinter Chandra Sturrup, who set the stage when she was enshrined in 2003. "That was probably one of the greatest recognition that I received off the track since I started competing," said Brown at the time of the ceremony. "I never expected to end up in this position. I just went out to do what I love doing, running track."

By then, Brown had compiled an impressive résumé as he narrowed his participation down to just the shorter 400m. As he made his transition from college to professional ranks, Brown went on to win an individual medal and teamed up in the 4 x 400m relays at the Central American and Caribbean Championships, the Pan American Games, the IAAF World Indoors, the World Championships and the Olympic Games.

While Brown holds four individual medals from the World Indoors, he's still seeking his first medal at the World Championships and Olympics - where he's experienced his notorious fourth place finishes.

The journeyman's performances include fourth place finishes at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki, Finland, the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia, the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, Japan and the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

While it's hard to erase the memories of those misfortunes, Brown didn't let them hold him back. He snapped the losing streak by getting on the podium at the World Indoors in 2006 in Moscow, Russia with the bronze, accomplishing the same feat in 2008 in Valencia, Spain and in 2012 in Istanbul, Turkey.

Back on the outdoor circuit, Brown struggled to get back on the podium in the 400m at both the World Championships and the Olympics. Yet still he pressed on, running some respectable times, albeit, not as fast as his Bahamas national record of 44.40 in 2008 in Oslo, Norway He also still holds the 800m national record at 1:49.54 that he set in Maracaibo in 1998.

As he saw the door slowly closing on him in the 400 outdoors, Brown also had the backdrop of competing on the 4 x 400m relay team, which helped to keep his name fresh on the lips of track fans. Every year that the Bahamas assembled a relay team from 1999 (with the exception of Edmonton 2001), Brown has been the focal point, running the anchor leg. That was until he relinquished his national title to rising star Demetrius Pinder in Nassau in 2010.

In the best interests of the team, Brown was coaxed into running pop off at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England and, after getting his portion of the job done, Pinder, Michael Mathieu and Ramon Miller went on to pull off the upset of the decade, beating the United States for the gold.

"This one was for the team," Brown said after the victory. "I was prepared to do whatever it took to win a medal. I went out and gave it my all and then I left it up to my team-mates to finish it off. They did a good job. We are the Olympic champions."

There were frantic celebrations for the team when they returned home. They were greeted to a junkanoo rush-out (the Bahamian rhythmic culture of goat skin drums, horns, whistles and decorative costumes) at the Lynden Pindling International Airport before they were paraded through the streets of Nassau in a motorcade.

The celebrations didn't stop there, as they went on a whirlwind tour to some of the islands in Bahamas' archipelago, including Brown's birthplace of Eleuthera.

What's interesting to note is that Brown was recognised along with some of his team-mates by the Bahamas Government by having his portrait displayed on the "wall of fame" at the Lynden Pindling International Airport. He also has a portrait at the Rock Sound Airport in Eleuthera and the street that his parents still live on was named after him on August 22, 2012. That's not all - the local park, used for so many community activities, also has his name inscribed on a big billboard.

Brown spends the majority of his time in Atlanta, Georgia where he resides with his wife, Faith, whom he wed in October, 2008. They are the proud parents of two girls, Emerald & Zorah. However, whenever the opportunity presents itself, Brown makes a trip home to the island where he could easily be mistaken for a politician because of the "love and admiration" that the people have for him.

Last year, Brown decided to come back home and do something a little different. He staged his first Chris Brown Invitational, drawing a large field of international stars, including Jamaican Veronica Campbell-Brown and Americans LaShawn Merritt and Justin Gatlin.

"I wanted to make a contribution to the sport other than competing," Brown said at the time. "People only get to see a lot of these athletes we compete against on television. I wanted to bring the athletes, many of whom are my friends, to come here to compete."

Brown was impressed with the level of competition, but he admitted that he was a little disappointed in that the stadium wasn't quite filled. Maybe, it was because of the fact that Brown opted not to compete. Instead, he served as the meet promoter.

The second version of the annual meet was scheduled for April 11. But it had to be cancelled because the track at the TAR Stadium was under renovation for the inaugural IAAF World Relays on May 24-25.

The decision may have been a blessing in disguise for Brown. He reunited with the Golden Knights for a second place finish in the men's 4 x 400m relay in January at the international match in Glasgow.

"I don't regret it. How could you when you are the Olympic champions?" Brown questioned. He turned right around and answered saying: "Whenever you beat the Americans, you have to feel proud of your accomplishments."

A bronze medallist at the last World Indoors in Istanbul, Brown is now hoping to add another medal to his collection in Sopot, Poland before the first IAAF World Relay title to his collection as well.

Whether it's gold, silver or bronze in the 400m or as a member of the 4 x 400m relay team, he can be satisfied of the achievements he's made since packing his bags for Nassau two decades ago.

Personal Bests

200m: 21.0 5 (2002)

400m: 44.40 NR (2008)

800m: 1:49.54 NR (1998)

Indoors

400: 45.78 (2006)

Yearly Progression

1999: 45.96; 2000: 45.08; 2001: 45.20; 2002: 45.11; 2003: 44.94; 2004: 45.09; 2005: 44.48; 2006: 44.80; 2007: 44.45 NR; 2008: 44.40 NR; 2009: 44.81; 2010: 45.05; 2011: 44.79; 2012: 44.67; 2013: 45.18

Indoors

2001: 47.19; 2002: - ; 2003: 46.66; 2004: 46.48; 2005: - ; 2006: 45.78 NR; 2007: - ; 2008: 46.26; 2009: - ; 2010: 45.96; 2011: -; 2012: 45.902013: 47.33; 2014:

Career Highlights (400m unless specified)

Prepared by Brent Stubbs and David Powell for the IAAF “Focus on Athletes” project. Copyright IAAF 2008-2014.