The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

CHRIS “Fireman” Brown, still waiting on a decision by the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations on whether or not he will run the 400 metres at the IAAF World Championships next month in Beijing, China, competed over the weekend at the IAAF Diamond League Meet in London, England.

Brown, whose national 400m record was replaced by Steven Gardiner in the BAAA Nationals in June when he opted to run the 200m, placed third in a field of some of the top runners heading to Beijing for the Worlds. He clocked 45.22 seconds to finish behind Wayde Van Niekerk of the Republic of South Africa, who was credited with beating Grenada’s superstar Kirani James earlier this year. Van Niekerk won the race in 44.63 with American David Vergurg coming in second in 45.01.

“This was my first 400m since I ran in New Work, so going into the race, I give God thanks and praise for allowing me to actually go out there and perform,” Brown told The Tribune. “Overall, I felt pretty good. It was a little bit windy so the race wasn’t that fast.

“I expected it to be a lot faster, but I was still pleased to come out with a top three performance.”

Brown, the 36-year-old Eleuthera native who is having a fantastic season, said he’s still waiting to hear from the BAAA on whether or not they will allow him to run the 400m in Beijing. The three named by the BAAA are Gardiner, Michael Mathieu and Latoy Williams.

By virtue of not running the 400m at the nationals, the BAAA has only named Brown to run on the 4 x 400m relay team.

However, Brown said he’s preparing as if he will still run the 400m, considering the fact that only Gardiner has ran faster than him this year.

“I’m still training to run my individual event first at the Worlds before I look at the relays,” he said. “I’m just taking it one step at a time. I haven’t heard from the BAAA, so I’m still not sure if they will allow me to run. But I am hopeful that I will get to run the 400m in Beijing.”

While Gardiner was not selected to compete at the Pan Am Games, Mathieu only ran on the relay team that ended up fourth in the final. Williams got seventh in his semi-final heat in 46.81 and Miller, who is still working through his recovery from an injury he suffered last year at the IAAF World Relays, was eight in his semis in 48.54. Neither of them advanced to the final.

The final was won by Luguelin Santos of the Dominican Republic in a season’s best of 44.56. Trinidad & Tobago’s Machel Cedenio took the silver in 44.70 and the bronze went to American Kyle Clemons in his personal best of 44.84.

As for the 4 x 400 relay, Williams, Mathieu and Alonzo Russell put the Bahamas out front in the first three legs. But on the anchor, 400m hurdles gold medallist Jeffery Gibson struggled with a cramp coming down the home stretch as the Bahamas lost the lead and three medal positions to Trinidad & Tobago, Cuba and the United States in that order.

“Overall, I think the team performed well. I could see from what I was told and what I saw that everybody performed well,” Brown said. “I give the team credit. But I’m looking forward to going to the Worlds and see what happens. I’m just taking it one day at a time and hopefully stamp myself as a medal contender, if they allow me to run and then see what happens after that.”