Herb McKenley; set 400-meter mark in 1940s
NEW YORK - Herb McKenley, the world's fastest 400-meter runner more than half a century ago and later the driving force in Jamaica's climb to track and field prominence, died Nov. 26 in Kingston, Jamaica, where he lived. He was 85.
The cause was complications of pneumonia, his wife, Beverley, said.
In 1947, Mr. McKenley set a world record of 46.3 seconds for 440 yards. In 1948, he set world records of 46.0 for 440 yards and 45.9 for the slightly shorter distance of 400 meters. The same year, he went to the London Olympics as a member of the Jamaican team.
"Once I'm in the lead at the top of the homestretch, no man in the world can beat me," Mr. McKenley said in London before the 400 final.
But entering the final straightaway four yards in front, Mr. McKenley, at 6 feet 1 inch and 159 pounds, and powered by an 8-foot stride, was overtaken by Arthur Wint, a Jamaican teammate and medical student who, at 6 feet 4 1/2 inches, had an even longer stride: 9 feet.
Mr. McKenley, finishing second, came away with the silver medal and a lasting memory of Wint's relentless footsteps gaining on him: "Boom, boom, boom," as he later put it.
After the race, Allison Danzig wrote in The
Jamaica remembered both men. On one side of Kingston is Herb McKenley Crescent. On the other side is Arthur Wint Drive.
Mr. McKenley's frustration continued at the 1952 Olympics, in Helsinki, Finland. In the 100-meter final, he appeared to catch Lindy Remigino, an unheralded American. But despite Remigino's urging that Mr. McKenley had won, the judges said that Remigino had been first and Mr. McKenley second.
In the 400 final, Mr. McKenley started his kick too late and finished a foot and a half behind George Rhoden, another Jamaican. "Now I'll never win a gold medal," Mr. McKenley said. But he won one in the 1,600 relay when he turned a 10-yard deficit into a 2-foot victory with a spectacular leg in 44.6 seconds.
His 1948 world record in the 400 has long been eclipsed - the current record, at 43.18, has been held by Michael Johnson of the United States since 1999 - but Mr. McKenley ran in an era when most tracks were dirt or clay, not the artificial surfaces of today, and when training methods, diet, and equipment were far less advanced than they are now.
He coached the Jamaica national team from 1954 to 1973 and later served as the president of Jamaica's Amateur Athletic Association. 