Ken Farnum

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Ken Farnum Road cycling
To person
Full name Kenneth Aubrey Farnum
Date of birth January 18, 1931
date of death April 4, 2020
nation BarbadosBarbados Barbados
discipline Train (short term)
Last updated: April 15, 2020

Kenneth Aubrey "Ken" Farnum (born January 18, 1931 in Bridgetown , † April 4, 2020 in New York City ) was a cyclist from Barbados . He was the first barbadian to compete in the Olympic Games , albeit under the Jamaican flag.

Athletic career

Ken Farnum has been a cyclist since he was ten years old. Eight times in a row he was the West Indian sprint champion . Athletes from Barbados have dominated cycling on grass track in the Caribbean since the 1940s .

The Farnum for Finland Fund was established so that Farnum could take part in the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki . With financial support from this fund and the Barbadian government, Ken Farnum was able to travel to Finland. Since Barbados had no Olympic status before 1962, he started for the Jamaica team. With a time of 1: 17.2 minutes, Farnum, who had problems with the climate in Finland, finished 20th in the 1000-meter time trial . In the sprint he was eliminated in the first lap rebound . Farnum was the only black cyclist to compete in these games.

In 1955, Ken Farnum moved to New York City with his family. Three times in a row - in 1955, 1956 and 1957 - Farnum, "a brown-skinned cyclist in a sport dominated by white riders", won the championship of the state of New York and thus became a "folk hero". He also took young African American racing cyclists like Herb Francis and Perry Metzler under his wing. He received US citizenship on June 27, 1966.

Farnum died on April 4, 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City at the age of 89 from complications from a SARS-CoV-2 infection.

literature

  • Peter Nye: Hearts of Lions. The History of American Bicycle Racing . WW Norton & Company, New York / London 1988.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Nye, Hearts , p. 201.
  2. ↑ a b c Peter Joffre Nye: Ken Farnum, Olympian and folk hero, dies at age 89 of COVID-19. In: cyclingnews.com. April 14, 2020, accessed on April 15, 2020 .
  3. ^ Barbados Advocate , " Farnum for Finland Fund, " p. 1, May 29, 1952.
  4. ↑ Mike King: Give sporting giants their due. In: nationnews.com. November 27, 2013, accessed March 10, 2020 .
  5. ↑ Daily Cycling Facts January 18, 2013. In: cyclopunk.blogspot.com. January 18, 2013, accessed March 10, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Baltimore Afro-American , “ Dillard, Rhoden set new Olympic marks, ” p. 5, July 29, 1952.
  7. ↑ Ken Farnum Jr. In: NY Metro Emergency Musical Services. Retrieved March 10, 2020 .
  8. ↑ Peter Joffre Nye: Ken Farnum, Olympian and folk hero, dies at age 89 of COVID-19. In: cyclingnews.com. April 14, 2020, accessed on April 15, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Farnum, Ken
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Farnum, Kenneth (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Barbadian cyclist
DATE OF BIRTH January 18, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH Bridgetown
DATE OF DEATH April 4, 2020
Place of death New York City