The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Olivia “Babsy” Grange celebrated the 98th anniversary of the birth of the late Jamaican Olympic Athlete, the Hon. Herbert Henry McKenley, OM,  on Friday, July 10, with a friendly gathering of members of the sports fraternity at McKenley’s resting place at the National Heroes Park in Kingston.

Legendary Jamaican Olympian, Herb McKenley was born on July 10, 1922 and died on November 26, 2007 at age 85 years old. His prolific career saw him receive accolades such as being named the only man to have won medals in all three sprints in the same major games, the 1951 Pan American Games; and the only person to have reached the finals for the Olympic 100m, 200m and 400m events, a title which he still holds until this day. He is also the only man in the 20th century to win Olympic medals in the 100m and 400m; and he the first man to run the quarter mile under 46 seconds, and then again in under 45 seconds.

Herb McKenley also held the world record for the 300 yards, 440 yards, 300m and 400m at various times in his career, while also being a five time holder of 440m world record. He was also National Track and Field Coach of Jamaica from 1954 to 1973 and became one of six inductees in the Jamaica Sports Hall of Fame in 1989.