Bahamian sprinter Chris Brown (© Getty Images)
Olympic 4x400m champion and world indoor 400m silver medallist Chris Brown will be among the star attractions at this coming weekend’s inaugural IAAF World Relays on home soil in Nassau. The popular Bahamian offers a peek into his life as he answers our work, rest and play questions.
CHRIS AT WORK
What is your favourite training session?
Chris Brown: I like the speed work sessions: 40m, 60m, 80m or 100m. I enjoy them because I‘m turning my legs over quickly and I’m at a point in my season when I’m close to hitting my full potential.
What is your least favourite session?
CB: I hate to do 200s. I hate to train over the distance, even though I love to compete in the event. The preparation part, I don’t like.
What is your favourite music to train to?
CB: I don’t listen to music during training because I like to communicate with my coach. In the build up to a competition, I like to listen to junkanoo music (a Bahamian style of music evolved to include art, dance and music) and reggae music.
Who is your all-time favourite training partner?
CB: For quite some time I’ve trained on my own: just me, the clock and the coach. I’ve had a few training partners, but I like to train on my own.
Where is your favourite training venue?
CB: I enjoy my off-season conditioning in the fall, and I like to train at a place called Exchange Park and Wade Walker Park in Georgia (USA).
CHRIS AT REST
Where is your favourite place to relax?
CB: My home island of Eleuthera (in The Bahamas). There is little hustle and bustle, no traffic lights. Time doesn’t matter. I enjoy the peace and tranquility, and relaxing with family and friends.
What is your favourite stress reliever?
CB: Going for a two-to-three-hour swim in the sea. It washes away the fatigue and jetlag and refreshes the mind and relaxes the body.
Describe your perfect non-training day.
CB: I’d spend it in bed listening to music, eating and then getting back into bed and doing nothing. The whole day would be lazy, lazy, lazy.
What is your favourite music to relax to?
CB: I’m funny and strange in that I don’t have a favourite. I like to listen to a variety of different music. They all bring a different message. Music is spontaneous and relaxing, it’s universal.
Which films do you like to relax to?
CB: I like comedies and action movies, but the type of movie I enjoy most is horror. I like to see how well the producer has put together the scenes and how well the costumes have come together.
CHRIS AT PLAY
How did your passion for swimming come about?
CB: I grew up around the water as a youngster. Every single day I went to the beach. My dream back then was to become one of the best swimmers in the world. I don’t know how I ended up in track and field. I enjoy swimming and feeling the water on my face. I love to watch the swimming at the Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games and I try to make a point of going along to watch.
How often do you swim today?
CB: I don’t swim as much today, but If I’m home (in The Bahamas) I‘ll swim at least five out of seven days. I just love the water, especially when you can swim underwater with your eyes wide open. It is beautiful.
Did you ever swim competitively?
CB: As kids I would race my cousins from point to point in the sea, or we would do relay swimming. I challenged one or our (Bahamian) swimmers to a duel in 2008. I was supposed to race him in the swimming and he was supposed to race me in the 400m, but I think he got scared when he saw how serious I was. I’m a fish underneath the water. It (the challenge) was meant to appear on TV but it never came to pass.
Where is your favourite place to swim?
CB: In home waters in Eleuthera. It holds very happy memories for me.
Who is your all-time favourite swimmer?
CB: Michael Phelps and Ian Thorpe, those two are phenomenal. I would sit in the pool by myself just to watch them train together.
Steve Landells for the IAAF
