André Lowe, Senior Staff Reporter

ELEUTHERA, Bahamas:

With the inaugural IAAF World Relays set to get going in his own backyard at the Thomas A. Robinson Stadium on May 24 and 25, veteran Bahamian quarter-miler Chris Brown is eagerly looking forward to defending home soil and sees Jamaica's young mile relay team as a real threat going forward.

Brown has been somewhat of a catalyst for Bahamas' emergence as a 4x400m powerhouse over the last decade after helping his country to seven 4x400m relay medals at 11 major championships (4 Olympics, 7 World Championships).

However, the 35 year-old is keeping a close eye on the Jamaicans, who seem to be making their way back after at one point boasting the best quarter-mile programme in the Caribbean.

"I'm just grateful and thankful for playing my part and doing my role in The Bahamas' 4x400m relay legacy," said Brown while talking recently to a group of journalists gathered from all over the world by the IAAF as a part of its Day in the Life athlete exposé programme.

"We have a lot of weight on our shoulders because we are at home and everyone will be looking for us to do what we did in London."

Brown, who ran the lead off leg as The Bahamas won the 4x400m gold medal at the London 2012 Olympic Games and who was on anchor on their 2008 Beijing Olympics silver medal run, said he has been encouraging his team-mates to wipe the slate clean and remained focused ahead of the World Relays.

At the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Brown featured as The Bahamas ran in third place behind then traditional top two, the United States and Jamaica. A year later, The Bahamas won gold at the 2001 World Championships in Edmonton, announcing the country as a serious player in the 4x400m hierarchy.

Jamaica has, however, medalled at the last two World Championships, winning bronze in 2011 and silver last year in Moscow in addition to a bronze at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Sopot in March.

"I definitely see Jamaica doing some damage. Jamaica has been having a history of great 4x400m runners, from Gregory Haughton to Michael McDonald, Davian Clarke to Roxbert Martin. I have seen and studied each runner even before I came on the scene. Even the same thing with the US."

"I can definitely see that it's a young team and if they are doing the damage they are doing now, it's clear that they can be a force to be reckoned with in the future," Brown added in reference to the Jamaican bunch that includes emerging talents Javon Francis, Edino Steele, Rusheen McDonald, and Eric Nolan, as well as the more experienced Allodin Fothergill.