Christopher Devon "Chris" Brown OLY (born 15 October 1978), also known as "Fireman", is a Bahamian

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete from the Bahamian island of Eleuthera, who mainly competes in the 400 m. In addition to winning

medal A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be in ...

s in individual contests, he has also won four World Championships medals in the relay. He also won a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

in the relay at the 2012 London Olympic Games. He is an alumnus of Norfolk State University. In 2005 he finished fourth in the 400 m final at the World Championships. Also took a

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

in the 4 × 400 m relay a few days later. In 2007, his most successful year, Brown won gold medals in both the individual 400 m and the 4 × 400 m relay at the

2007 Pan American Games The 2007 Pan American Games, officially known as the XV Pan American Games () and commonly known as Rio 2007, were a major Americas, continental multi-sport event that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 13 to 29, 2007. A total of ...

. In the 2007 World Championships in

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

, Brown tied the Bahamian national record, when finishing fourth in the 400 m final. Brown (together with Avard Moncur, Andrae Williams and Michael Mathieu) also won silver in the 4 × 400 m relay at the 2007 World Championships. In 2008 at the Beijing Olympics he placed fourth in the 400 m final when he was initially in 3rd place, American runner David Neville dived across the line just ahead of him. He lost the

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

by 0.04 seconds. A few days later he picked up a silver medal in the 4 × 400 m relay along with Andretti Bain, Michael Mathieu and Andrae Williams. In 2012, Brown finished third in the 400 m finals at the World Indoor Championships behind countryman Demetrius Pinder. He once again finished fourth in the Olympic 400 m final. He won his first Olympic gold medal four days later in the 4 × 400 m relay with Demetrius Pinder, Michael Mathieu and Ramon Miller, They beat the defending champions the United States, marking the first Olympic men's gold medal in any athletics event for the

Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...

and the first American loss in that race at the Olympics since 1972. At both the 2014 and 2015 IAAF World Relays held in his home country of

The Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of ...

he was part of the silver medal-winning 4 × 400 men's relay team. On 22 August 2012 the Bahamian government named a street in his honor in his hometown of Wemyss Bight, Eleuthera.

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