The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia,net

SOUTH Eleuthera — Officially opening the One Eleuthera Primary School Meet on Thursday, Chris ‘Fireman’ Brown said he’s disappointed that the athletes are still competing on the grass track at his alma mater at the Preston Albury High School.

And to ensure that the members of the track and field team don’t go through the same fate as he did before he left Weymss Bight, Brown made a significant contribution to the athletes.

Brown, who was given a couple acres of land by his first coach, Michael Coakley, for a track and field facility on the Chris ‘Fireman’ Brown Boulevard, was returning home after winning the silver medal in the men’s 400 metres at the International Amateur Athletic Federation’s World Indoor Championships in Sopot, Poland, last month.

The IAAF, represented by Anna Legnani, deputy director of communications, is hosting a number of local and international journalists in Eleuthera for the “Day in the Life of an Athlete.”

The programme, started back in 2003, is affording journalists to travel to various countries in the Caribbean to get an in-depth look at selected athletes on their success on and off the track.

Brown, 35, is the designated athlete from the Bahamas, although some of the spotlight was placed on World champion Tonique Williams and ‘Golden Girl’ Eldece Clarke in Nassau on Tuesday before the contingent came to Eleuthera on Wednesday.

The activity in Eleuthera began for Brown at the Wemyss Bight Primary School where the students greeted him with the following poem: Chris ‘Fireman’ Brown is the fastest man in town. He was born in Wemyss Bight, he is our Golden Knight. So let’s jump and say hooray for Bay. He’s our hero every day. He went to the world’s stage at a very early age. He made the Bahamians proud, that’s why we say it loud. Hooray for Bay. He’s our hero every day. He was then introduced with the following:

C is for Chris, the Fireman’ Brown. He is the fastest runner in our town. H is for heart. He has a heart of gold. That is why God allowed his golden talent to unfold. R is for running, for that is what he does best. I is for inspiration, for he knows that he is better than all the rest. S is for salute, for that’s why we’re here today, to show our love and appreciate him in this very special way. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, we now present to you, Chris ‘the Fireman’ Brown, our proud Olympian.”

From there, it was on to Preston Albury High where Brown opened the primary school meet that was named in his honour. It was then that Brown noted how disappointed he was that there is still not a proper track and field facility at the school.

“I have to speak to someone who can get us a proper facility so we can compete against the best in the world,” Brown said. “How long have we been running on this grass track? I’ve been running track for about 19 years and every year I’ve been here, I have been running on this grass track. We have to put a spot to that right. We have to speak to the right people in town.”

Brown said in order for the athletes in Eleuthera to perform at the level that he did, they have to get the proper facility to train on.

Unfortunately, Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Dr Daniel Johnson and the permanent secretary, Calvin Balfour, had already left the island and didn’t get to hear the comments.

Before he was done, one of Brown’s daughters, four-year-old Emerald, asked him to say something, She recited the nursery rhyme: Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder where you are,” much to the delight of the students.

After watching the 400m heats, which was first on the track programme, Brown encouraged the students of Preston Albury not to get discouraged because of the negative talk from people who have tried to cause him to lose his interest in competing by telling him he’s too old, washed up or done.

“You know what they call me, the Fireman. What happens when you add fuel to the fire, you get more fire,” Brown said. “So for me, anytime someone says something negative about me, it always comes back and I get ready to perform.”

Brown asked the students what should they say when the “haters” say they are washed up and done? He pulled Anthony Seymour from the crowd when he coined the phrase: “That’s they problem,” which Brown said is the new motto for Preston Albury High.

Before he left, Brown made a presentation of running shoes and spikes for the members of the track team. The items were made for the team through his sponsor Adidas and his family.

He said he hopes to return next year to provide some equipment and hopefully help the school in resurfacing the track.

It was then off to Central Eleuthera where Brown visited the Emma E Cooper Primary School, the Central Eleuthera High School and the Governor’s Harbour Primary School.

It was ironic that just as he arrived the day before, Brown closed out his first day of school visits by being entertained by junkanoo music at the Governor’s Harbour Primary School.

As the tour wraps up on Friday, Brown will be in North Eleuthera where he will visit the North Eleuthera High School, Preacher’s Cove, Spanish Wells All-Age and the Harbour Island All-Age School.

The contingent of journalists will then depart the North Eleuthera Airport for the third leg of their tour in Puerto Rico. The final leg will conclude in Trinidad & Tobago. The journey began two weeks ago in Jamaica.