Christopher Deon "Chris" Brown (born 15 October 1978), also known as "Fireman", is a Bahamian

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete from the Bahamian island of

Eleuthera Eleuthera () refers both to a single island in the archipelagic state of The Commonwealth of the Bahamas and to its associated group of smaller islands. Eleuthera forms a part of the Great Bahama Bank. The island of Eleuthera incorporates the ...

, who mainly competes in the

400 m The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is o ...

. In addition to winning

medal A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...

s in individual contests, he has also won four World Championships medals in the

relay A relay Electromechanical relay schematic showing a control coil, four pairs of normally open and one pair of normally closed contacts An automotive-style miniature relay with the dust cover taken off A relay is an electrically operated switch ...

. He also won a gold medal in the

at the 2012 London Olympic Games. He is an alumnus of

Norfolk State University Norfolk State University (NSU) is a public historically black university in Norfolk, Virginia. It is a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and Virginia High-Tech Partnership. History The institution was founded on September 18, 1935 ...

. In 2005 he finished fourth in the 400 m final at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

. Also took a silver medal in the

4 × 400 m relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

a few days later. In 2007, his most successful year, Brown won gold medals in both the individual 400 m and the 4 × 400 m relay at the

2007 Pan American Games The 2007 Pan American Games, officially known as the XV Pan American Games, were a major continental multi-sport event that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 13 to 29, 2007. A total of 5,633 athletes from 42 National Olympic C ...

. In the 2007 World Championships in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

, Brown tied the Bahamian national record, when finishing fourth in the 400 m final. Brown (together with

Avard Moncur Avard Moncur (born November 2, 1978) is a Bahamian track and field athlete competing in the 400 metres. He was born in Nassau. Career Under the guidance of coach Henry Rolle, Moncur's most successful year came in 2001 when he won the gold m ...

Andrae Williams Andrae Williams (born 12 July 1983 in Freeport, Bahamas) is a Bahamian sprint athlete mainly competing in the 400m. University Williams competed in collegiate track at Texas Tech University. 2004 In the 2004 Olympic Games, Willi ...

and

Michael Mathieu Michael Mathieu (born 24 June 1984) is a retired Bahamian sprinter from Freeport, Grand Bahama who specialized in the 200 metres and 400 metres. He was part of the Bahamian silver medal-winning team in the men's 4×400 metres relay at the 20 ...

) also won silver in the 4 × 400 m relay at the 2007 World Championships. In 2008 at the Beijing Olympics he placed fourth in the 400 m final when he was initially in 3rd place,

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

runner David Neville dived across the line just ahead of him. He lost the bronze by 0.04 seconds. A few days later he picked up a silver medal in the 4 × 400 m relay along with

Andretti Bain Andretti Bain (born 1 December 1985) is a Bahamian sprinter who specializes in the 400 metres. He was born in Nassau. Bain finished fifth in 4 x 400 metres relay at the 2004 World Indoor Championships, together with t ...

and

. In 2012, Brown finished third in the 400 m finals at the World Indoor Championships behind countryman Demetrius Pinder. He once again finished fourth in the Olympic 400 m final. He won his first Olympic gold medal four days later in the

with Demetrius Pinder,

and

Ramon Miller Ramon Miller (born 17 February 1987, Nassau) is a Bahamian sprinter. He was inducted into the Dickinson State University Hall of Fame class of 2020. Career He was part of the Bahamas' silver medal-winning team in the men's 4 × 400 m relay ...

, They beat the defending champions the United States, marking the first Olympic men's gold medal in any

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

event for the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...

and the first American loss in that race at the Olympics since 1972. At both the 2014 and 2015

IAAF World Relays The World Athletics Relays, known as the ''IAAF World Relays'' until 2019, is an international biennial track and field sporting event held by World Athletics where teams from around the world compete in relay races, some of which are not part ...

held in his home country of

The Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...

he was part of the silver medal-winning 4x400 men's relay team. On 22 August 2012 the Bahamian government named a street in his honor in his hometown of

Wemyss Bight Wemyss Bight (6 April 1990 – 15 April 2009) was a British-bred, French-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and Horse breeding#Terminology, broodmare. She was successful in her only start as a two-year-old in 1992 and developed into a top-class midd ...

References

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