Jeremiah Brown (born 25 November 1985) is one of few people to ever go from complete beginner to Olympic medallist in less than four years. Brown won a silver medal at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

as part of the

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men's eight. Brown then became leader of the

Canadian Olympic Committee The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC; ), also known as Team Canada, is a private nonprofit organization that represents Canada at the International Olympic Committee. It is also a member of the Pan American Sports Organization. History Cana ...

's athlete wellness and transition programs for four years before becoming an author and keynote speaker on transformation, perseverance, and resilience.

Career

Originally playing as an

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

in college football for the

McMaster Marauders The McMaster Marauders are the athletic teams that represent McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Athletics at McMaster is currently managed by the university's student affairs, under their athletics & recreation d ...

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, Brown decided to move to

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

to begin his transition to rowing after watching the Canadian men's eight win gold at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

. He started a learn-to-row program with the Canadian national program and spent 1,700 hours in training to learn the sport. In his competitive career he won a silver medal at the 2010 nationals as a singles sculler and he next achieved success when he won a bronze at the

2011 World Rowing Championships The 2011 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 28 August to 4 September 2011 at Lake Bled, adjoining the Slovenian city of Bled. The annual week-long rowing regatta is organized by World Rowing Federatio ...

. Brown won a silver medal at the

in the men's eight with

Andrew Byrnes James Andrew Byrnes (born May 22, 1983) is a Canadian rower and Olympic gold medallist. He was born in Toronto, Ontario and raised in Ithaca, New York. Byrnes is a 2005 graduate of Bates College in Maine, where he crewed for the Bates Rowing Te ...

, Gabriel Bergen, Will Crothers, Douglas Csima, Robert Gibson, Malcolm Howard, Conlin McCabe and Brian Price. The Canadian eights had performed poorly in the heats, finishing last and casting doubt on their ability to win a medal. However, in the repechage, they finished second, behind the

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

crew. In the A final, the Canadian boat managed to pull past Great Britain to finish in the silver medal position - behind the

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boat, who were the reigning three-time world champions.

Memoir

In March 2018, Brown released a memoir called ''The 4 Year Olympian: From First Stroke to Olympic Medallist'' (Dundurn Press). The ''Toronto Star'' wrote of the book, "Tells the story of what it means to train hard, really hard, and develop the mental and physical skills needed for success."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Jeremiah 1985 births Living people Canadian male rowers McMaster Marauders football players Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic rowers for Canada Olympic medalists in rowing Olympic silver medalists for Canada Rowers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Rowers from Hamilton, Ontario World Rowing Championships medalists for Canada 21st-century Canadian sportsmen