The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

NORTH Eleuthera — The International Amateur Athletic Federation’s “Day in the life” of quarter-miler Chris ‘Fireman’ Brown came to a close on Friday with school visits to North Eleuthera High, Spanish Wells All-Age and Harbour Island All-Age Schools.

Anna Legnani, the deputy director for communications in the IAAF, organised the three-day trip to Eleuthera for a group of international and local journalists to discover Brown’s development on his birthplace on the island of Freedom.

While the first two days were geared towards Central and South Eleuthera, including his original residence in Wemyss Bight, the group got a complete tour of the island, known for its pineapples as well, as they witnessed an over pouring of support for Brown.

It was his first visit to the island in two years and it came a few weeks after he captured his fifth medal with a silver performance in the men’s 400 metres at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Sopot, Poland.

“I think it was a fantastic experience,” said Legnani before she took the group to Puerto Rico for the third leg of their relay trip through the Caribbean, starting in Jamaica two weeks ago and ending up in Trinidad & Tobago later this week.

“We had such a wonderful experience here that everybody was saying that for the day in the life of Chris Brown, we should have two weeks in the life of Chris Brown because it was such an amazing trip.”

In every stop that they made, Legnani said she was quite impressed with the level of appreciation that the people of Eleuthera had for their son of the soil, who is by far the most decorated Bahamian athlete, having won more than 30 medals, individually and as a member of the relay team combined, during the course of his 20-plus years as a world-class athlete.

“We visited the island where he was born, where he started his running, where he went to primary school to high school and it seems as if the island of Eleuthera has a very special place in his heart,” she said.

“To witness all of the outpouring of love for him was just amazing. People wanted to see him, to congratulate him. There was a lot of enthusiasm displayed for him and I really think he deserved everything he got and more.”

When asked what impressed her the most, Legnani was modest in her response by stating: “everything. When you got some place, you say this was fantastic. But when you go somewhere else, it was something different. They all put in a lot of work in their activities, so the whole trip here was just wonderful. Every school had something special for Chris ‘Fireman’ Brown.”

Just as he closed out the second day of the trip with the junkanoo music at Governor’s Harbour on Thursday, Brown opened the final day at the North Eleuthera High School where he was entertained by their marching band.

From there it was off on a ferry boat ride to Spanish Wells where Brown was asked if he ever had a chance to run against Usain Bolt. When he asked who they think would win, one young girl said she believed Bolt would. But Brown assured them that he would beat the Jamaican double sprint world record holder “all day.”

He was also asked if his feet caught fire when he’s running. To that question, Brown said he hopes to “bring the fire to his feet” when he competes for the Bahamas at the IAAF World Relays May 24-25.

Brown, who was entertained by the Island Boys, a group of students - Kevin Symonette and Kendal Underwood - on the steel drums - was challenged to a race by James Boykin and Angelina McKenzie. He eventually lost the 25 metre sprint race. Maybe it was just too short. And from there, he took another ferry boat ride to Harbour Island where he was picked up on the dock and driven to the school on a motorcade for a very brief ceremony that ended up with a junkanoo rushout.

He was entertained by three male students of the school drama team on a “Fireman” experience.

But the trip was too short and a group of girls didn’t get a chance to read a poem.

One of the visiting journalists, Michael Bascombe, said he was overwhelmed by the entire experience, both in New Providence where they started last Monday by interviewing World and Olympic champion Tonique Williams and “Golden Girl” Eldece Clarke.

“I think it was a once in a lifetime experience for us to get to know Chris Brown,” said Bascombe, who hails from Grenada but currently works out of New York. “We had a chance to go to Jamaica two weeks ago, but it was nothing like this one. It was like Chris Brown opening his life to us. His mother, his father and his entire family, including his wife and daughters, we got to know them all a lot better off the track,” Bascombe said.

“I think the IAAF should be commended for this opportunity because we get to cover the athletes at their track meets, but never had the opportunity to discover what it is that brought them to that stage and how they keep themselves going.”

Bascombe said he was more than thrilled by the warm hospitality of the Bahamian people, especially in Eleuthera where he felt they were treated like “kings and queens” for the short visit.

Francis Friend, who headed the local organising committee in Eleuthera, said they accomplished their goal, which was to ensure that the visitors got an appreciation of their affection for Brown.

“It was a wonderful opportunity for those of us who live here in South Eleuthera, especially,” she said. “We were just pleased on the whole island to have the journalists here visiting Chris Brown.

“It was a wonderful trip. I think everybody enjoyed Eleuthera, the hospitality of the people and more importantly, meeting the family of Chris. It was a lot of fun for me to do this. He is my god brother and I told him whenever he needs anything, just call me and as long as I’m alive, I will try to get it done for him.”

Friend, who co-ordinated the committee with Johnny Butler, said this will be one of those experiences that both the locals and visitors will definitely not forget.