Brasher, Christopher William

▪ 2004

“Chris” 

      British athlete, journalist, and businessman (b. Aug. 21, 1928, Georgetown, British Guiana [now Guyana]—d. Feb. 28, 2003, Chaddleworth, Berkshire, Eng.), on May 6, 1954, set the pace for the first two laps of Roger Bannister's historic race breaking the four-minute mile; he later cofounded the London Marathon. Brasher discovered athletics at university and ran the steeplechase at the 1952 Olympic Games. In the 1956 Olympics, he won the gold medal in the 3,000-m steeplechase. Thereafter he worked as a sports journalist, and he was named Sportswriter of the Year in Britain in 1968 and in 1976. A successful businessman, he cofounded the British Orienteering Federation in 1966 and founded the Brasher Boot Co. in 1983. He was made CBE in 1996.

* * *