Christopher William Brasher

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(21 August 1928 – 28 February 2003) was a British

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 events ...

athlete, sports journalist and co-founder of the

London Marathon The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, United Kingdom, and is the 2nd largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held ...

Early life and education

Born in Georgetown,

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies, which resides on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first European to encounter Guiana was S ...

, Brasher went to

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. Up ...

and then

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

, where he read

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ear ...

. He was a keen mountaineer, and as a student was President of the Cambridge University Mountaineering Club, and in 1948 led an expedition to

Baffin Island Baffin Island (formerly Baffin Land), in the Canadian territory of Nunavut, is the largest island in Canada and the fifth-largest island in the world. Its area is , slightly larger than Spain; its population was 13,039 as of the 2021 Canadia ...

with W A Deer.

Sporting career

On 6 May 1954, he acted as pacemaker for Roger Bannister when the latter ran the first sub-four-minute mile at Iffley Road Stadium in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. Brasher paced Bannister for the first two laps, while his friend

Chris Chataway Chris Chataway (born ) is an Australian Anglican priest and musician who has served as Dean of Perth since 1 February 2020. He previously served as Archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Cath ...

paced the third. Two years later, at the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Brasher finished first in the 3,000 metres steeplechase with a time of 8 minutes 41.2 seconds, but was disqualified for allegedly interfering with another runner,

Ernst Larsen Ernst Willy Larsen (18 July 1926 – 2 December 2015) was a Norwegian athlete, who competed mainly in the 3000 metre steeplechase. He represented Ranheim IL. Larsen won the bronze medal in this event at the 1956 Summer Olympics held in ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The following day, after an investigation, he was reinstated as gold medallist. Brasher had been celebrating for several hours before the delayed medal ceremony, and later claimed to have been “the only Olympic champion to be totally and absolutely slaughtered when he received a medal”. He was one of the pioneers of

orienteering Orienteering is a group of sports that require navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain whilst moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a s ...

in Britain and can claim the first public mention of the sport in an article in ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'' in 1957: :"I have just taken part, for the first time, in one of the best sports in the world. It is hard to know what to call it. The Norwegians call it 'orientation'..."

Later career

He had distinguished careers in print journalism, as sports editor for ''The Observer'' newspaper, and in broadcasting, as a reporter for the ''

Tonight Tonight may refer to: Television * ''Tonight'' (1957 TV programme), a 1957–1965 British current events television programme hosted by Cliff Michelmore that was broadcast on BBC * ''Tonight'' (1975 TV programme), a 1975–1979 British current ...

'' programme. He founded Chris Brasher's Sporting Emporium in 1971; this later became Sweatshop. In 1978, he designed the innovative Brasher Boot – a walking boot with the comfort of a running shoe. In their time these were amongst the best products, but declined in quality, were merged with Berghaus under Pentland ownership in 2014, and were finally discontinued before 2017. In 1981 John Disley and Brasher founded the

. In 1983 he became the second president of the

Association of International Marathons and Distance Races The Association of International Marathons and Distance Races, also known as AIMS, is an association of the organisers of long-distance road running races. It was founded in 1982 at a meeting in London of marathon race directors. Its membership w ...

, an office which he held until 1987. Also in 1983 Brasher partnered with his longtime friend John Disley to found Fleetfoot Limited in Lancaster, England. Fleetfoot distributed The Brasher Boot and other sporting goods to retailers. Fleetfoot acquired the rights to be the UK distributor of Reebok and subsequently traded as Reebok UK before becoming a subsidiary of the

Pentland Group Pentland Group is a British privately owned global company that owns and invests in, primarily, retail and wholesale businesses in the sports, outdoor and sports fashion sectors. The Group is the majority shareholder of JD Sports, which operate ...

in 1988. After the acquisition by Pentland, Brasher remained active in the company as chairman of the board. Reebok UK was sold to Reebok International in 1990 when Pentland Group sold its 55% ownership of Reebok United States and Reebok International.

Personal life and honours

St Peter's Church, Petersham, Chris Brasher memorial

Brasher married the English tennis champion

Shirley Bloomer Shirley Brasher (née Bloomer; born 13 June 1934) is a former tennis player from England who won three Grand Slam titles during her career and who was the top-ranked singles player in her country in 1957. Early life She attended Cleethorpes Gir ...

in 1959. Brasher was awarded the

in 1996. He was awarded the

Royal Scottish Geographical Society The Royal Scottish Geographical Society (RSGS) is an educational charity based in Perth, Scotland founded in 1884. The purpose of the society is to advance the subject of geography worldwide, inspire people to learn more about the world around ...

's Livingstone Medal in 2002. In 2003, he died at his home in Chaddleworth, Berkshire, after struggling for several months against

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brasher, Chris 1928 births 2003 deaths Sportspeople from Georgetown, Guyana People from Chaddleworth British Guiana people Guyanese people of British descent English male middle-distance runners British male steeplechase runners English male steeplechase runners British newspaper editors British sportswriters English male journalists Olympic athletes of Great Britain Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics English Olympic medallists Athletes (track and field) at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for England Orienteering in the United Kingdom Orienteering innovators Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Pacemakers Burials at St Peter's, Petersham