At the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Istanbul, Turkey, earlier this month, Demetrius Pinder of Grand Bahama and Chris Brown of Eleuthera made history on the senior level when they won silver and bronze medals in the 400 meters (m). This was the first time in senior world competition that The Bahamas won more than one medal in a single event. Additionally, with this medal, Brown became the athlete with the most medals won in the 400m. The Bahamas did not always have top quarter-milers but developed them over time.
Start of international competition
The first time that The Bahamas competed in international competition was in 1954 in Vancouver, Canada at the British Empire and Commonwealth Games when Cyril "Peepsight" Johnson participated in the 440 yards. He finished his heat in 51.8 seconds. This was the best performance of all Bahamians at the games.
At the Mexico City Pan American Games in 1955, Johnson ran 51.5 seconds in the 400m. Six years later it was Hugh Bullard, a St. Augustine's College student, who ran 51.20 seconds at the Rome Olympics, placing sixth in the third heat.
A classical race at SAC
At the Bahamas Association of Independent Schools Championships in 1961, a year later, there was a classic battle of the sprinter versus the longer distance runner. This was a classic, remembered by many fans who were there. Versatile Julian Brown from St. John's College and Bimini challenged Bullard in the 400m. At the end, it was the fastest 400m race ever run in The Bahamas with Brown winning in 49.9 seconds. Bullard would crawl across the line for second place. The third place finisher was Government High's Philip Russell who had spent some time in high school in Jamaica.
Breaking the barrier
By 1968, The Bahamas' best performance in the 400m had dropped to 46.99 seconds when Leslie Miller, who had attended high school in Florida and the University of Texas at El Paso, placed seventh in heat seven in the Mexico City Olympic Games.
The versatile sprinter
Seven years later, Mike Sands, who had attended high school in New York City, and college at Penn State University, ran 45.28 seconds at the NCAA Championships in Provo, Utah. That record would last 21 years. That same year, Sands became the first Bahamian to capture a Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Senior Championships crown when he ran 46.6 seconds in Ponce, Puerto Rico.
Sands was undoubtedly the most versatile sprinter The Bahamas has ever seen. He held national records in the 100m, 200m and 400m at the same time.
The influence of Frank 'Pancho' Rahming
At home in The Bahamas, coach Frank "Pancho" Rahming started to direct his efforts to developing quarter-milers in the late seventies. Rahming had attended Florida Memorial College and participated in the Munich Olympics in 1972. He placed fifth in the seventh heat in 48.30 seconds. Rahming encouraged sprinters to move up to the 400m.
Who would believe The Bahamas could defeat 400m powerhouse Jamaica in the 4x400m relay their hometown in 1979. At the finish, it was Grand Bahama's David Charlton who ran from a 40-meter deficit to overtake and defeat Jamaica comfortably. The team included Anthony Smith, Craig Frazier and Allan Ingraham.
By 1990, Grand Bahama's Marcus Knowles would become the first Bahamian to win a CARIFTA Under-20 400m crown running 47.30 seconds in Kingston, Jamaica.
The contribution of Sidney Cartwright
Sidney Cartwright saw an opportunity in the early nineties to smash The Bahamas 4x400m relay record and had athletes like Troy McIntosh, Dennis Darling and Tim Munnings.
McIntosh steps up to the plate
In June of 1996, McIntosh broke Sand's 21-year long record with a 44.73 seconds run in Mexico City. That summer at the Atlanta Olympic Games, McIntosh ran 46.42 seconds in his heat. The 4x400m relay team, made up of Carl Oliver, Dennis Darling, McIntosh and Tim Munnings, finished seventh in the final in a time of 3:02.71.
McIntosh won the 400m at the CAC Games in 1998 in 44.84 seconds and won a bronze medal at the IAAF World Cup in Johannesburg that year in a time of 45.45 seconds. The next year he finished fourth in the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Maebashi, Japan, in 46.05 seconds, just three hundredths of a second from the bronze medal.
Moncur's time
Avard Moncur won the 400m in the NCAA Championships for Auburn University in 2000 at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Moncur set a new Bahamian national record in the 400m with a 44.72 seconds clocking. That next summer in Madrid, Spain, Moncur improved his national record to 44.45 seconds on the way to capturing the 400m at the Edmonton IAAF World Championships. He became the second Bahamian to win an IAAF individual World Championships title.
Brown takes over
In 2005, Eleutheran Chris Brown stepped up to the plate and broke Moncur's national record with a 44.40 seconds run in Oslo, Norway. Brown finished fourth in the 2005 and 2007 World Championships 400m, but led The Bahamas' 4x400m relay team to second place finishes in the 2005 and 2007 World Championships, and the 2008 Olympic Games.
Another NCAA champ
In 2008, Andretti Bain won the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships in the 400m for Oral Roberts University, clocking 44.62 seconds outdoors.
In 2010, Grand Bahama's Demetrius Pinder attending Texas A&M University ran 44.93 seconds. He defeated Chris Brown at the National 'Open' Track and Field Championships. Last year, Pinder brought his personal best down to 44.78 seconds while defeating Chris Brown once again, at the BTC Jr. and Sr. National 'Open' Track & Field Championships.
The Bahamas has definitely had a colorful history in the men's 400m. The performances of Pinder and Brown in Istanbul will go down in history for Bahamian sports.
The Bahamas is usually picked to win a medal in either the World Championships or Olympic Games 4x400m running because of our great crop of 400m runners.
Would any Bahamian quarter-miler win a medal in London? There are numerous 400m runners on the junior scene in The Bahamas now and we anticipate that more athletes will turn to this event because of our success and rich tradition.

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