The 800 meters (m) has been a particularly interesting event in The Bahamas. My first event ever run was the 800m at the Friends of The Bahamas (FOB) meet at St. Augustine's College (SAC) field in December of 1960. The winner was Alex Hanna. That same year, Julian Brown from Bimini was scheduled to participate in the 800m at the Rome Olympic Games. He was sick and unable to participate.
Two years later Brown, a great 400m runner, would set a new national record in the event at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games, running 1:52.5 in the semi-finals. He was spiked at the start of the final and was unable to participate. Brown never regained his previous form and returned to Bimini.
Michael Armbrister
It took 18 years for Michael Armbrister to smash Brown's record of 1:52.5. He did this in San Jose, California in May of 1980 with a clocking of 1:50.5. He was attending Compton College at the time and that performance is still a Compton record to this day.
Livingstone Marshall
Out of Exuma, Livingstone Marshall, who attended Hampton University in Virginia, set a new national record with a 1:49.77 run for third place at the 1985 CAC Senior Championships. This was the first time that any Bahamian male had won a medal in international competition in this event.
Chris Brown
It took another 13 years for 20-year-old Chris Brown from Eleuthera to reduce the national record. It was in August of 1998 at the CAC Games in Maracaibo, Venezuela. Brown, a 400m ace, ran 1:49.54 for a record that has lasted 16 years. It is unfortunate that Brown, who holds the 400m national record at 44.40 seconds, has only attempted this event once since he did the 800m record in 1998. He had promised to attempt it several years ago but as his competitive window is closing that does not seem possible.
Andre Colebrook
Andre Colebrook, also from Eleuthera, had dedicated himself to this event and used to come to New Providence on weekends to train with the South Beach Striders. In 2013, he became the only Bahamian male to win a medal in the Pan American Junior Championships. He captured a bronze. Colebrook holds the national junior record at 1:50.81, done in March of 2013. He has also ran a few sub 1:51 times indoors.
Lester Taylor
On Valentine's Day, February 14 in Boston, 22-year-old Lester Taylor out of Grand Bahama made a great effort in chasing Brown's record. Taylor, while participating for Fordham University in New York City, ran 1:49.65 to break his own school record of 1:50.64 in this event. This was the second best performance by a Bahamian ever, after Brown.
Prior to attending Fordham University, Taylor attended St. Andrew's High School and Suffield Academy in Suffield, Connecticut. He has participated in the 800m outdoors and indoors, and the 500m and 1,000m indoors. The 5'11" 148-pound Taylor had the opportunity to participate in the CAC Junior Championships in 2010. His coaches are Tom Dewey and Vin Forte.
Taylor's ultimate track and field goal this year is qualify for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Outdoor Championships in the 800m. His also wishes to win the 800m at the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations' (BAAA) National Open Track and Field Championships, and qualify for as many international competitions as possible.
He said: "I have made such immense progress with my performance that it has changed my perception of the sport, and made me reconsider my potential. With that being said, I really would like to be able to train with an elite group to continue to progress and see how much I can lower my times. I consider myself a patriotic person, and it would mean a lot to me if I can stimulate a positive change with our talented younger athletes. It is important to me that our Bahamian athletes believe that we as a nation have the potential to compete in the middle distance events, and if my performance has any part in contributing to that change, that would be tremendous."
Taylor is an Economics Major with a Minor in Business Administration. He is expected to graduate in June of this year. Ultimately, he wants to pursue a career as a corporate lawyer or a financial/legal advisor.
2016
Taylor intends to train, travel and try to race on an elite level next year but his ultimate goal for 2016 is to make a wholehearted attempt to qualify for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. No Bahamian athlete has qualified or participated in this event at the Olympic Games since Julian Brown at the 1960 Rome Olympics.
Who will break Chris Brown's 16-year-old 800m national record? The Bahamian track and field community awaits the performances of both Colebrook and Taylor this season and especially their anticipated showdown at the BAAA National Open Track and Field Championships at the end of June. Both Colebrook and Taylor have the talent to break this 16-year-old national record.
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