Brown competed for the United States in two Olympic Games, running the steeplechase at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics. He qualified for the 1980 U.S. Olympic team but did not compete due to the U.S. Olympic Committee's boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Russia. He was one of 461 athletes to receive a Congressional Gold Medal instead. He was a surprise second place at the 1972 Olympic Trials, sprinting from a battle to make the team around leading contender and hometown favorite, Steve Savage, who had been battling Mike Manley for the lead. In 1976, with 1972 winner Manley injured hitting a barrier in the first few laps of the race, Brown outsprinted Henry Marsh and picked up the win by 0.03 of a second. That was not even the most thrilling finish in that race, as Mike Roche fell over the last barrier, managed to right himself and outsprint Don Timm for the final position on the team.