David Brown (parathlete)
David Brown is a visually impaired American sprint runner. He competed over 100–400 m distances at the 2012 and 2016 Paralympics and 2013 and 2015 world championships and won the 100 m event in 2015 and 2016. In 2014 he became the first totally blind athlete to run 100 m within 11 seconds.
He was born to Francine Brown and has an elder sister Breana. At the age of 15 months he was diagnosed with Kawasaki disease, which led to glaucoma and complete blindness by the age of 13. Consequently, Brown moved from Kansas City to St. Louis to attend the Missouri School for the Blind. Besides athletics he trained in wrestling and goalball and played the drums, piano and tenor saxophone in a jazz band. Since 2012 he is trained by the Brazilian Olympic champion Joaquim Cruz, and since 2014 he runs with Jerome Avery, who has competed as a guide at four consecutive Paralympics since 2004.
