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.
Life
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.
Athletics career
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.
At the
BerlinOlympics, 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]
In 1937, Brown won 400 m at the World Student Games, with additional gold medals at both relays.[3]
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.
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.[3][4]