Charles Douglas Brown (born March 1, 1952 in Detroit, Michigan) is a retired American track and field athlete, whose specialty was the

Steeplechase Steeplechase may refer to: * Steeplechase (horse racing), a type of horse race in which participants are required to jump over obstacles * Steeplechase (athletics), an event in athletics that derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing ...

Early career

While competing for the University of Tennessee he won the NCAA Championship in the steeplechase twice in a row, which qualified him to run in the 1973 World University Games. After college he ran with the Athletics West track club, one of the first mega teams sponsored by Nike. He was United States ( Amateur Athletic Union) National Champion in 1973 and 1980.

Olympic athlete

Brown competed for the United States in two Olympic Games, running the steeplechase at the

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

and 1976 Olympics. He qualified for the 1980 U.S. Olympic team but did not compete due to the U.S. Olympic Committee's boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Russia. He was one of 461 athletes to receive a Congressional Gold Medal instead. He was a surprise second place at the 1972

Olympic Trials Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

, sprinting from a battle to make the team around leading contender and hometown favorite,

Steve Savage Stephen Read Savage (born June 6, 1948) is an American middle-distance runner. He competed in the men's 3000 metres steeplechase at the 1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () a ...

, who had been battling Mike Manley for the lead. In 1976, with 1972 winner Manley injured hitting a barrier in the first few laps of the race, Brown outsprinted Henry Marsh and picked up the win by 0.03 of a second. That was not even the most thrilling finish in that race, as

Mike Roche Mike Roche (born September 23 in Pascack Valley, New Jersey) is an American actor. Roche played Humphrey James in the 2007 Off-Broadway revival of ''Night Over Taos''http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117934921 by Maxwell Anderson directed by ...

fell over the last barrier, managed to right himself and outsprint Don Timm for the final position on the team.

1983 IAAF World Cross Country Championships

Brown ran on the American silver medal winning team at the

1983 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 1983 IAAF World Cross Country Championships was held in Gateshead, England, at the Riverside Park on March 20, 1983. A report on the event was given in the Glasgow Herald ''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in ...

References

1952 births Living people American male middle-distance runners American male long-distance runners American male steeplechase runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Olympic track and field athletes for the United States Track and field athletes from Detroit Tennessee Volunteers men's track and field athletes Congressional Gold Medal recipients 20th-century American people {{US-longdistance-athletics-bio-stub