Godfrey Brown (athlete)
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Born | (1915-02-21)21 February 1915 Bankura, Bengal, India | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Died | 4 February 1995(1995-02-04) (aged 79) Sussex, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Athletics | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Event | 400m/440y/880y | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Club | University of Cambridge / Birchfield Harriers | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Arthur Godfrey Kilner Brown (21 February 1915 – 4 February 1995) was a British athlete, winner of a gold medal in the 4 × 400 m relay at the 1936 Summer Olympics. He later became Headmaster of the Royal Grammar School Worcester, a post which he held from 1950 until his retirement in 1978.
Biography
Born in Bankura, Bengal, India, Brown was educated at Warwick School, where he was Head Boy from 1933 to 1934. In 1935 he went up to study English and History at Peterhouse, Cambridge, and worked after graduation as a history master at Bedford School. Because his sight was poor he was not mobilized in the Army, staying as school master at Cheltenham College from 1943 to 1950. From 1950 till 1978, Brown was the headmaster of the Royal Grammar School Worcester. He died in Sussex, aged 79.
Godfrey Brown was a highly talented runner at distances from 100 yd (91 m) to the half-mile.[1] He won the British AAA championships in 440 yd (400 m) in 1936 and 1938 and in 880 yd (800 m) in 1939.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7c/Godfrey_Brown%2C_Archie_Williams%2C_James_LuValle_1936.jpg/200px-Godfrey_Brown%2C_Archie_Williams%2C_James_LuValle_1936.jpg)
At the Berlin Olympics, Brown was narrowly beaten by Archie Williams in the 400 m individual event, but Brown anchored the British 4 × 400 m relay team to a gold medal ahead of the United States.[2][3]
In 1937, Brown won 400 m at the World Student Games, with additional gold medals at both relays.[4]
At the 1938 European Championships, Brown won the individual 400 m, anchored the British 4 × 400 m relay team to a second place and won the bronze at 4 × 100 m relay.
Brown won two 440 yards titles (1936, 1938) and one 880 yards titles (1939) at the prestigious AAA Championships.[5][6]
Siblings
His sister Audrey and brother Ralph were also notable athletes, Audrey winning a silver in 4 × 100 m relay at the 1936 Olympics and Ralph won the British AAA championships title in 440 yd (400 m) hurdles in 1934.[4][7]
References
- ^ Roberto Quercetani (1964). A World History of Track and Field Athletics, 1864–1964. Oxford University Press.
- ^ Anrd Krüger; William Murray (6 August 2003). The Nazi Olympics: Sport, Politics, and Appeasement in the 1930s. University of Illinois Press. p. 81. ISBN 978-0-252-09164-3.
- ^ "Biographical Information". Olympedia. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ a b Lawrence Goldman (7 March 2013). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2005-2008. OUP Oxford. p. 254. ISBN 978-0-19-967154-0.
- ^ "AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists". National Union of Track Statisticians. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
- ^ "Wooderson wins again". Daily Herald. 13 July 1936. Retrieved 13 July 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ John Bale; Mette Krogh Christensen; Gertrud Pfister (2004). Writing Lives in Sport: Biographies, Life-histories and Methods. Aarhus University Press. ISBN 978-87-7934-084-8.
External links
- Godfrey Brown at Olympedia
Records | ||
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Preceded by | European record holder men's 400 m 7 August 1936 – 11 August 1939 | Succeeded by |
- v
- t
- e
- 1908:
William Hamilton, Nathaniel Cartmell, John Taylor, Mel Sheppard (USA)
- 1912:
Mel Sheppard, Edward Lindberg, Ted Meredith, Charles Reidpath (USA)
- 1920:
Cecil Griffiths, Robert Lindsay, John Ainsworth-Davis, Guy Butler (GBR)
- 1924:
Commodore Cochran, Alan Helffrich, Oliver Macdonald, William Stevenson (USA)
- 1928:
George Baird, Emerson Spencer, Fred Alderman, Ray Barbuti (USA)
- 1932:
Ivan Fuqua, Ed Ablowich, Karl Warner, Bill Carr (USA)
- 1936:
Freddie Wolff, Godfrey Rampling, Bill Roberts, Godfrey Brown (GBR)
- 1948:
Arthur Harnden, Cliff Bourland, Roy Cochran, Mal Whitfield (USA)
- 1952:
Arthur Wint, Leslie Laing, Herb McKenley, George Rhoden (JAM)
- 1956:
Charles Jenkins Sr., Lou Jones, Jesse Mashburn, Tom Courtney (USA)
- 1960:
Jack Yerman, Earl Young, Glenn Davis, Otis Davis (USA)
- 1964:
Ollan Cassell, Mike Larrabee, Ulis Williams, Henry Carr (USA)
- 1968:
Vincent Matthews, Ron Freeman, Larry James, Lee Evans (USA)
- 1972:
Charles Asati, Munyoro Nyamau, Robert Ouko, Julius Sang (KEN)
- 1976:
Herman Frazier, Benny Brown, Fred Newhouse, Maxie Parks (USA)
- 1980:
Remigijus Valiulis, Mikhail Linge, Nikolay Chernetskiy, Viktor Markin (URS)
- 1984:
Sunder Nix, Ray Armstead, Alonzo Babers, Antonio McKay (USA)
- 1988:
Danny Everett, Steve Lewis, Kevin Robinzine, Butch Reynolds, Antonio McKay, Andrew Valmon (USA)
- 1992:
Andrew Valmon, Quincy Watts, Michael Johnson, Steve Lewis, Darnell Hall, Charles Jenkins Jr. (USA)
- 1996:
LaMont Smith, Alvin Harrison, Derek Mills, Anthuan Maybank, Jason Rouser (USA)
- 2000:
Clement Chukwu, Jude Monye, Sunday Bada, Enefiok Udo-Obong, Nduka Awazie, Fidelis Gadzama (NGR)
- 2004:
Otis Harris, Derrick Brew, Jeremy Wariner, Darold Williamson, Andrew Rock, Kelly Willie (USA)
- 2008:
LaShawn Merritt, Angelo Taylor, David Neville, Jeremy Wariner, Kerron Clement, Reggie Witherspoon (USA)
- 2012:
Chris Brown, Demetrius Pinder, Michael Mathieu, Ramon Miller (BAH)
- 2016:
Arman Hall, Tony McQuay, Gil Roberts, LaShawn Merritt, Kyle Clemons, David Verburg (USA)
- 2020:
Michael Cherry, Michael Norman, Bryce Deadmon, Rai Benjamin, Trevor Stewart, Randolph Ross, Vernon Norwood (USA)
- 2024:
Christopher Bailey, Vernon Norwood, Bryce Deadmon, Rai Benjamin, Quincy Wilson (USA)