The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WHEN contracted by the Local Organising Committee last year, veteran quarter-miler/turned meet promoter Chris ‘Fireman’ Brown knew that it would have been easy to get his fellow international athletes to commit to competing in the inaugural Grenada Invitational Track and Field Meet.

The big event is set for Saturday (April 8) at the 8,000 seat national stadium that will be named that night after the country’s only Olympic and world champion, Kirani James. And the list of entries has far exceeded all expectations.

Brown, a rival of James, confirmed that 145 international athletes have consented to participate in the one-day meet, including Bahamian national 400 metre record holder Steven Gardiner, national 400m hurdles record holder Jeffery Gibson, national triple jump record holder Leevan ‘Superman’ Sands, sprinter Ty’Nia Gaither and quarter-miler Alonzo Russell.

“Preparations are going very well. The LOC has been working continuously and I’m very impressed with how quickly they get things done here,” said Brown, who is already in Grenada. “Everyone is involved and the tickets are all sold out.

“The athletes are all excited to be coming here, there’s a lot of buzz all around the island and they are waiting to welcome the athletes.”

After he was forced to put the third edition of his own Chris Brown Invitational on the shelf because of the lack of financial support, Brown said he was delighted to replica that event by has selecting Bahamian coach Dianne Woodside as the meet director. And he has included Bahamian artist M Deez in the lineup of entertainment.

“It’s definitely created a buzz,” said Brown, of his role as the Athletes’ Liaison. “I’m thankful and blessed that coaches, agents and athletes have responded to me when I picked up the phone and called them.

“So I’m very grateful of that. I’m just blessed and grateful to be able to help to make this inaugural event a success for the people of Grenada.”

All systems are now in place with Brown getting 100 percent support from the LOC, chaired by Dexter Mitchell, as well as the government and the people from Grenada.

“From all angles, the support has been tremendous,” said Brown, when compared to what he experienced in putting on the first two editions of his meet. “Here the entire country is supportive of the event.

“At home, I didn’t have the full support of the country and there were some who dragged their feet in getting things done. To be able to be here and to see how swiftly everybody moves to get things done is quick refreshing. It’s a blessing.”

The blessing, according to Mitchell, has produced goodwill for the country.

“He only came here in October and the willingness of the Local Organizing Committee to work with him was fantastic,” Mitchell said. “He brought a lot of experience, having done his own Invitational twice and he brought in his views as an athlete of what can be done.

“He was able to legitimize the entire thing. I remember when my partner, Michael Bascombe, met with Chris and we decided to do a launch on October 20, one of the decisions was that Chris had to come to Grenada. When he came, that sold the event.”

Every time that Brown would call and say he got an athlete confirmed, Mitchell said it raised the bar in Grenada.

“To be honest, the people would have been happy with about 4-5 elite athletes,” he said. “But I don’t think the people expected to be having more than 140 athletes coming in.

“And of course there is a lot more buzz because Kirani James will be coming home to compete for the first time as a professional athlete. So to see those world class athletes like Asafa Powell, Kim Collins, David Oliver and Veronica Campbell-Brown is a testament to what Chris Brown brought to the table.”

More than 30 corporate sponsors in Grenada have come on board to assist in pulling of the event. But Bascombe, the meet organizer, said Brown’s presence has made a world of a difference.

“It’s the first time a meet of this caliber is taking place in Grenada so there’s a lot of first time things that we have to do,” said Bascombe, the president of the Caribbean Sports Journalist Association.

“Chris brings a lot of expertise, not just as an athlete, but as a promoter of his meet, so as the meet organizer here, I’m happy to have him on board. He has brought a lot in making contact with a lot of the athletes that are coming here. A lot of them brought into it as soon as they got a call from him.”

Although his focus is on assisting Grenada with their initial meet, Brown said he’s still anticipating that he can garner the support at home to reintroduce his Chris Brown Invitational in 2018.

“The support cast has to want it,” he insisted. “When you do an event like this, everyone has to be on the same page. As long as you have that full support from everyone, who can have a successful meet.

“When you have an event and you have some people not supporting it, then you know you will have an issue. You don’t want to go through that headache of trying to do something of this magnitude and you don’t get the full support. You don’t want to have the stress and hiccups during the meet and after. I don’t want to go through that again.”

With the limited support and budget to work with, Brown said he wasn’t able to attract as many international athletes, but he’s confident that in moving forward, if he can secure the necessary funding, he will be able to bring in a lot more athletes to compete.

With his commute to and forth to Grenada kept him rather busy, Brown said he’s still uncertain about his ability to be ready to compete in the third IAAF World Relays that will follow from April 22-23 at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium.

But he insisted that once the Grenada Invitational is over and done with, he will refocus his training on the road to the IAAF World Championships in London, England in August as he prepare to wind down his long and illustrious career.

Kirani James National Stadium

Talking about National Stadium, Mitchell said the government of Grenada would honor James that night by placing his name on the new stadium built by the People’s Republic of Chinese that hosted the Carifta Games last year – the first major international meet.

“I don’t think too many of us in our lifetime would think that we would produce an Olympic and world championship gold medalist,” Mitchell said. “So that is a major accomplishment and all of the fans of Kirani James of his hometown and his community are expected to be there.

“This is also a major incentive for the younger athletes coming up that if they do well, they too will be honored and recognized, maybe not with a national stadium, but in some other capacity.”

Brown, honored by the Bahamas Government in having the community park and a boulevard that leads to his parents’ home in his birthplace of Wemyss Bight, Eleuthera named in his honor, said the recognition for James is huge.

“I think that’s a great accomplishment as Grenada recognizes what he’s done as an ambassador for their country,” he stated. “They are giving him his flowers while he’s alive.

“So I’m happy to see it and to be a part of history over here. He’s a good friend of mine, even though we are also close rivals on the track. I’m happy that he’s going to awarded and rewarded with the naming of the stadium. That is huge.”