Aaron Brown’s birthday surprise

It takes a certain amount of confidence to be one of Canada’s best sprinters, but confidence was in short supply when Aaron Brown found out what his girlfriend, Preeya Milburn, had planned for his 27th birthday last week. “My girlfriend is officially banned from surprising me for my birthday,” he tweeted, with the video of his first skydive attached.

My girlfriend is officially banned from surprising me for my birthday..

You only live once – 2️⃣7️⃣#skydiver ?☁️ pic.twitter.com/WlOkIDbboU

— Aaron Kingsley Brown (@KingsleySC) June 2, 2019

Brown told us he had no idea where they were going when they arrived at the site near Orlando, Florida, where he lives and trains. “Preeya told me what kind of clothes to wear and what time to be ready, but I had no idea. There are a lot of theme parks out here, that was the only thing I could think of. I was completely clueless. I could have guessed 50 things, but I would never have guessed that.”

Brown says that initially they were only going to ascend to 11,000 feet (3,352m), but the guide said the most common complaint was that the experience was over too quickly. So they went up to 18,000 feet (5,486m). “I tried to hide it on my face, but it was just terror all the way through,” says Brown.

“So do you have any fears, any thoughts?” the guide asks, as they walk towards the plane.

“Umm… this was sprung upon me, so I didn’t know I was doing this until I got here, so I haven’t really processed what I’m about to do,” Brown replies, trailing the guide by a few steps. “I think that’s a good thing. If I knew, I would not want to do this.”

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He looks considerably happier a few minutes later as he floats gently to Earth, his instructor strapped to his back, and positively exhilarated (and a little relieved) when it’s over.

“So.. we just get in a plane and then jump out? How high is 18,000 ft?”

.. I’ll never forget turning 27 lol ?#skydive ☁️☁️☁️ pic.twitter.com/sfF345xgZS

— Aaron Kingsley Brown (@KingsleySC) June 2, 2019

He was also surprised that the guide wears a helmet and earplugs, whereas the customer does not. “For some reason that’s the way they do it,” Brown says. “My ears were popping the whole time.”

Brown is quite a bit more confident with his feet firmly planted in the starting blocks on the track. His outdoor season is off to a great start, with wins in the 200m at the Stockholm Diamond League last week and the 100m (where he beat Andre De Grasse) in Shanghai earlier last month.

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Brown’s next meet is the Harry Jerome International Track Classic in Vancouver on June 20, where he will race the 100m. De Grasse will spend the first part of the summer training and competing in Europe before returning home for the Canadian national championships in Montreal.