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Jamaica's Sports minister Olivia Grange (left), speaks with sculptor, Basil Watson (right), during the installation of the statue of the late Jamaican runner Herb McKenley in front of the National Stadium on Thursday (Nov 19).
KINGSTON: The monument to honour the legacy of the great Jamaican runner and Olympian, the Honourable Herbert McKenley, OM, OJ, CD arrived in the island on Thursday (November 19) and has been mounted at the National Stadium.
The Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, the Honourable Olivia Grange, whose Ministry led the arrangements for the commissioning of the statue and is planning the official unveiling by Prime Minister, the Honourable Bruce Golding, next week, was at the Stadium to observe the installation of the statue.
Minister Grange is happy that the statue was completed and mounted on time.
The Minister said: “I’m really happy that everything is now in place and the statue has been completed. It has been mounted and it’s ready for unveiling. This has been a journey, a short journey, I would say, although it seems like it took forever because there were some challenges.”
In 1948, shortly before the London Olympics, McKenley ran the new world record in 440yd (400 m) of 46.0, a record he broke again a month later, clocking 45.9. But at the Olympics itself, McKenley finished only second in 400 m, behind teammate Arthur Wint and was fourth in 200m. Jamaica lost a gold medal in the 4×400m relay when Wint pulled his muscle in the final.
At the 1951 Pan-American Games in Buenos Aires, McKenley was third in 100 m, 200 m and 400 m, the only person to ever perform this feat.
At the Helsinki Olympics, McKinley was second in 100 m (the first four clocked 10.4 in a very close race) and also second in 400 m. He finally got his Olympic gold, when he helped the Jamaican 4×400 m relay team to win the race with a new world record of 3.03.9.
After retiring from sports, McKenley was a coach of the Jamaican national team from 1954 to 1973 and served also as a president of Jamaica Amateur Athletics Association (JAAA).
The Minister also commended sculptor Basil Watson. The McKenley statue will be the third of Watson’s works on show at Independence Park – the Merlene Ottey statue and ‘The Netballer’ being the others.
“Basil Watson has done a tremendous job in recreating this image of Herb McKenley and I look forward to the unveiling on the 25th, by the Prime Minister,” said Minister Grange.
“I really feel honoured to be the person at the centre of all of this, to ensure that it happens, and I really want to thank everybody who has put time and effort and money into this effort.”
Watson, who was at the Stadium to oversee the installation, said the McKenley statue was a special project.
“It’s an honour to be given the privilege of doing a monument to Herb. That’s what was special to me and what was motivating and provided a lot of the energy and the enthusiasm for the project.”
Watson viewed several images of Herb McKenley to inspire his design. He has attempted to sculpt a monument that bridged the gap between the older, more popular image of McKenley, and that of his younger more athletic days.
“Herb was known way into his later years and the more youthful Herb was not remembered as vividly. So it was a challenge to get the kind of Herb that we know now and the Herb when he was as an athlete running. So it’s a mature, but still young, athlete.”
The statue was funded by the Sports Development Foundation (SDF) and the Culture, Health, Arts, Sports and Education (CHASE) fund. The Urban Development Foundation (UDC) was responsible for mounting the statue.
Prime Minister Golding will officially unveil the McKenley monument on Wednesday (November 25), in the presence of the President of the United Republic of Tanzania, His Excellency Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete and Her Excellency Salma Kikwete.
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A great Jamaican he was – Herb McKenley…
for real thats y when the ignorant people behave as is is 2day we have great performances i shake my head
When will Arthur Wint get one? He is only our first ever Olympic gold medalist. If truth be told, both Wint and Rhoden achieved more than Herb did on the track.
Herb is the Legend……the original Bolt…..100…….200……400…..
As i saiid before, no respect for Arthur Wint, he started the godl medal tradition. Do you understand what it means to be the FIRST Jamaican to ever win an Olympic gold medal? Dr. Wint, in my eyes you are the true Jamaican legend sir!
HERB = 1 gold, 3 silver
WINT = 2 gold & 2 silver
if I’m not mistaken Arthur Wint has a road named after him from long time. Herb Mc was greater even after his running days imparting his knowledge to nuff nuff youth. I remember him as a very stern no nonesense man during my days at C-Bar.