By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WHILE he’s disappointed that the third version of his Chris Brown Bahamas Invitational had to be cancelled, quarter-miler turned promoter Chris ‘Fireman’ Brown said he’s eager to lend his expertise to Grenada as they host their first major international track and field invitational on April 8.

Brown, who has had to painfully put his invitational on the back burner again because of the lack of financial support, has been invited by Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell to assist with pulling off their meet in Grenada.

Mitchell confirmed that Brown would play a major role in the organisation of the event with the local organising committee.

“In other words, we’re looking at not just one type of sport – we’re looking at all forms because it’s about sports tourism,” Mitchell said. “In other words, we see sports tourism as serious economic activity and, of course, the building of the talent of our young people.”

It will be the first major international track and field meet at the new stadium, which was opened on January 23. The stadium, which is listed among the IAAF Class One Certified Athletics Facilities, hosted the CARIFTA Games in March.

A Local Organising Committee (LOC) has been meeting and planning for the event over the past four months and is already preparing for an official launch. A number of prominent athletes from Jamaica and the United States are being invited to be a part of the one-day affair.

Brown, who competed in his fifth consecutive Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in August, said he was looking forward to improving on the first two editions of his invitational in 2013 and then again in April after it was cancelled in 2014 and 2015.

“It’s very disappointing,” Brown stated. “Being a Bahamian and having a home grown product, something that is for Bahamians and the next generation of athletes, I come to the understanding that with the amount of events on the calendar and this is not a major event, it’s difficult for me to get support and also compete with those mega events.

“It has forced me to basically make a decision to call it what it is and pull the plug on the event. It’s disappointing because this is something that I have been praying to God for it to be a mega event on the IAAF calendar and it got there. Unfortunately this has happened.”

While one door got shut, Brown said another one opened and he’s looking forward to teaming up with the LOC in Grenada to make their event a household one on the international calendar.

“It’s prefect timing. The timing couldn’t have come at a better time,” Brown insisted. “For me to showcase a major event and to help boost Grenada in a powerhouse in the region is a blessing.”

Brown, who turns 38 on October 15, said he intend to make the trek to Grenada to do a site inspection and also sit down with the LOC and put the final pieces of the puzzle together in their bid to make the event a success on April 8.

As for his CBBI, Brown said it’s a little too early to say if the event will be back in the Bahamas. He noted that it would all hinge on whether or not he can get the financial support to make it happen.

“I’m very appreciative of the help that the Bahamas Government has given to me over the last two editions of the Invitational and all of the persons who played a very important role in it,” he stated.

“But I just can’t stress myself out anymore. I have to make a decision for my family. So in 2017, I can’t go forward with it. I will just go to Grenada and assist them in making their event a success.”

Although he has indicated that he’s done running at the Olympics after anchoring the Bahamas to a bronze medal in the men’s 4 x 400m relay in Rio, Brown said he intend to be in action next year with his focus primarily on helping to keep the Bahamas a vibrant force in the relay.

“Each race I’m going to take it step by step, but I’m going to be doing more relays rather than individual events,” he pointed out. “I’m going to do my role to ensure that the team get to the World Championships and in the finals and being a contender for a medal.”

The former Bahamian national record holder is the most decorated male athlete, having won individual medals in the 400m from the Carifta Games to the World Indoor Championships. The only three meets that he’s not medaled at are the Commonwealth Games, World Championships and Olympics.

But in a span of three decades, the Wemyss’ Bight, Eleuthera native, now living in Atlanta, Georgia with his wife and children, have either anchored or started on just about every relay team that has medaled at every major international competition.