PM TRIBUTE AT UNVEILING OF HERB McKENLEY’S STATUE

TRIBUTE BY
PRIME MINISTER
THE HON. BRUCE GOLDING
AT UNVEILING OF HERB McKENLEY'S STATUE
WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 25, 2009

In recent times, we have basked in the glory of the exploits of Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell, Shelly-Ann Frazer, Melaine Walker, Veronica Campbell Brown, Brigitte Foster-Hylton and others from our list of star-studded athletic campaigners. They have stunned a world that is still trying to understand how this little country of Jamaica can produce so many consistently world-class athletes. We talk about them; we boast about them; we proclaim them to be the exemplars of the excellence that we are capable of. Nothing can detract from the joy and pride that they have brought us.

But more than 60 years ago, long before they were born, just after I was born, a dedicated and determined young man blazed the trail on which they have been able to outrun the rest of the world and demonstrate that we can be the best in the world. At that time, we had no stadium, no mondo track, sports training equipment was primitive, coaches were few and far between and sports medicine was unheard of.

But in 1948 Herb McKenley broke the 400M world record clocking a time of 46.0 seconds. A month later, he broke it again, clocking 45.9 seconds. He had to be content with a silver medal in the Olympics in London that followed, conceding the gold to a fellow Jamaican, Arthur Wint. He went on to the Helsinki Olympics where he copped silver medals in the 100M and 400M events and was part of that glorious relay team that won the gold medal in the 4x100 meter relay.

After all his exploits on the track, Herb could have walked away with his head held high. He had put Jamaican athletics on the international map. But he never left the track. He did venture into other fields. He became a life underwriter because he had a family to support. He even entered politics and ran for elections, for he had always had a passion to serve his country. But his heart was always in track and field.

He spent countless hours with promising but unknown young athletes. He was, for so many of them, coach, mentor and inspirer. His faith in the ability of our young men and women never wavered. He knew that we could challenge the best in the world and that, eventually, we would dominate the world. He spotted those youngsters, trained them and fathered them. He prodded them to deliver of their best. He wanted them to be even more successful than he was.

Herb McKenley was also a tireless advocate for sports development and promotion. He demanded better facilities, better equipment, professional management, more government and corporate support. There must have been times when frustration may have induced him to give up. But he never gave up.

Today is exactly two years since he left us. He had already seen some of the fruits of his labour, but the best was yet to come and I believe the best is still yet to come. I believe that today Herb must be filled with pride to see the fruition that has come from the seed he planted.

Today, we mount a statue in honour of this great athlete, this great Jamaican. I commend the sculptor, Mr. Basil Watson, on a truly magnificent rendition of the simple greatness that Herb McKenley was. I thank the Sports Development Foundation, the CHASE Fund and the UDC for their support of this project. I commend Minister Grange for her leadership in this important endeavour.

Those of us who knew Herb and know of his achievements need no statue to remind us of the invaluable contribution he has made. But there will be those who will stroll down this promenade and will stop to look. Some will ask "Who was that man?" For that much the statue would have served its purpose. The statue will evoke the question. But we must be ready to give the answer, for we have a story to tell - a wonderful story of a man who was years ahead of his time, who did what no runner from a little colonial country was supposed to do, who dedicated his life to seeing to it that young men and women, no matter how humble their circumstances, could excel and win the acclaim and admiration of the world.

We may be left without Herb's physical presence. We may be forced to cling to the images imprinted on our minds of that tall, commanding figure clad in his sweat suit marshalling his charges, summoning from them every ounce of strength, stamina and grit and imbuing in them the confidence that they can win that race. But his spirit will never depart from us and the springboard he built will forever propel more and more of our young athletes to become world-class champions.

Because of him, we will continue to get to our marks, we will get set and we will go.