The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

BEIJING, China — With one of his worst performances on the global stage, falling shy once again of getting on the podium with an individual medal, Chris ‘Fireman’ Brown said he feels it might be time for him to start winding down his career.

He didn’t get out of the semi-final last night at the Bird’s Nest, finishing seventh in his heat of the semi-final in 45.07 seconds for a tie for 18th place overall with American Vernon Norwood.

His performance was not what he had anticipated, considering that the night before he did 44.68 for fourth in his first round heat.

“I just have to give God thanks. I made it to the semi-final. I went out and tried to run the race that would get me into the final and it didn’t happen,” said Brown, who came into the championships with a season’s best of 44.58. “I’m a bit disappointed. “I can’t say much. Lane two, there wasn’t much you can do running out of lane two. At this point, it’s just what it is.”

The 36-year-old former national record holder went with the pack at the start of the race and was in contention heading towards the finish line. But the longer the distance left, Brown found himself just falling off the pace.

“I think I had a pretty decent start. I didn’t settle into my race like I wanted to. I kept going and going and when I got to the 150 when I tried to make a move, it was a bit difficult running out of lane two and just trying to stay with the pack.

“It was already half of the race. I’ve had better days, but this wasn’t one of them. I wanted to get into that final, but it didn’t happen. Through God, I was able to come out here and participate.”

Kirani James, the Grenadian Olympic champion, who is hoping to regain his world title that he lost to American LaShawn Merritt at the last championship, ran away with the win in the heat in the second fastest qualifying time of 44.16.

“This is the championships and you have to bring your A game every time because everybody is ready to run,” said Brown of the strong field that he was stacked up against. “It just shows how deep this 400m field has gotten.

“When it comes to the championships, you can’t take nothing for granted. Your mind has to be free. You just don’t need no extra baggage to carry with you.”

Referring to the issue that he had to deal with after the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations decided not to name him to the 400m pool after he failed to run the event at the National Championships in June, Brown said he’s now contemplating retirement.

While he didn’t achieve one of his personal goals, Brown said he’s definitely not looking at going to the next World Championships. In fact, he’s not even certain if he will hang around for the Olympic Games next year in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

“I knew what I had in the tank and it didn’t happen,” he said. “To see that I’m all the way to the bottom and my time was the second worst for the season, it was very tough. It’s a hard pill to swallow. I don’t know what to say. I just have to get back to the room, relax my mind a little bit, think about what happened, watch the race and just try to move forward, try to be 200 per cent for my team-mates, who will be needing me for the 4 x 400 and we will see how it goes from there.”

If he sticks around, Brown said he will probably just concentrate on the relay.

“I put my body through a lot of sacrifices and a lot of things that I had to go through with the federation,” he said. “I have a family now so I just want to enjoy my life.”

Throughout his career, Brown has come close to winning both an Olympic and World Championship medal, the only two international events that he has failed to get on the podium.

However, he has three Olympic Games and four World Championship medals from the 4 x 400m relay as well as five IAAF World Indoor Championship individual medals in the 400m.

Whenever he does return, he will go out as the most decorated and accomplished men’s 400 metre runner in the Bahamas. He held the national record at 44.40 from 2008 until Steven Gardiner erased it this year.

With his future left hanging in the balance, Brown said he will have to get some divine intervention on exactly what route he will take from here once he runs with the 4 x 400 relay team this weekend.

“I’m going to pray on it and see what the Lord has in store for me after this season,” he said.