Ken Farnum
BARBADOS’ FIRST OLYMPIAN Cycling Champion Known and Unknown
K
enneth Aubrey Farnum died in the midst of the pandemic. The frenzied emotions and chatter of the pandemic on every Barbadian who died, from Covid-19 or not, notwithstanding, the question was, Who? Who is Ken Farnum? Which was met by the terse response: You kidding? You don’t know who Ken Farnum is? Every Barbadian of a certain age still speaks with reverence about Ken Farnum. The mention of his name evokes the kind of emotion and spontaneous praise reserved for idols. Which is unsurprising, because he was exactly that – the idol of a generation of Barbadians who followed his every success at home and abroad. And successes, there were many of them. Somehow, the name and exploits of Farnum faded with time. But his passing has led to renewed interest in his sporting success and a desire to give him his due place in Barbados’ history. Before the heyday of cricket, and the exploits of the now Rt. Excellent Gary Sobers and his band of warriors, there
was Kenneth Aubrey “Ken” Farnum and cycling. Farnum dominated the sport. But more than that, he brought something special, different. It was not just the physique; he had that panache that turns a sport from something a segment of the population likes into a national fascination with a countrywide cheering squad. He was the game changer. The difference? Farnum remained quiet and modest. And since cycling, outside the Tour de France, and sprint cycling, has not come anywhere to matching the popularity of other sports, despite being one of five disciplines at the Olympics since inception; and certainly not made inroads against cricket and other disciplines in Barbados, too many generations are unaware of Farnum’s singular achievements in the sport. Born on 18 January 1931, he began racing at age 10. While still in his teens at school, he became the “A” class champion, developing his skill in pack races on circuits laid out on cricket fields. A sprint cyclist, he grew to a little over six feet tall and a trim 180 pounds.
Tactical savvy and a capacity for powering big gears earned him victories in Barbados and in venues around the Caribbean, including Jamaica, Trinidad and Guyana. Virtually unbeaten in sprint events, he collected eight West Indies sprint titles, dominating the local and regional cycling scene. The newspaper headlines captured the sporting hero of the day: Farnum Wins International Championship at Two-day Meet Farnum Rides Unbeaten – that was the report for a Whit Monday event in which he won the half mile, 2 mile and 9 mile events, setting two records before “a mammoth” crowd. Farnum Wins Only Open Event – Overcomes Heavy Tract to Outstay Belille – that about a six-mile event in Guyana. Ken Farnum Rides Unbeaten In Annual Inter-Club Sports In 1952, the Barbados cycling community wanted Farnum to compete at the Olympic Games in Helsinki, Finland, but Barbados had no Olympic organisation and was not a member of the International Olympic Committee, (IOC). Supporters discovered an avenue that allowed him to compete as a member of the Jamaica team. The public-driven Farnum to Finland Fund and Government support made the trip possible, so at 21, young Ken Farnum found himself in Helsinki at the 1956 Olympic Games. He vividly recalled that he was awed
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