The Honourable Olivia Grange, Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport

Saluting the Memory of Arthur Wint

Today, as the Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, I invite the nation to join with me and with the daughters and relatives of Arthur Stanley Wint in celebrating the 100th Anniversary of his birth.

Arthur Wint led the way literally, and we might say set the pace, for Jamaica's track athletes. His winning the first Olympic medal for Jamaica gives him a place in our glorious track and field history that no one can ever take from him. And it was indeed a wonderful bonus the fact it was a gold medal in the 400 metres at the Summer Games in London in 1948. Arthur Wint again won gold at the 1952 Olympics as part of the 4×400 relay team.

His golden exploits at the Central American and Caribbean Games are also matter of record. Four golds between 1938 and 1946.

Arthur Wint excelled on and off the track. A fighter pilot in World War Two; a medical doctor in England and in Linstead, Jamaica; a diplomat twice over; a recipient of the Order of Distinction and inclusion in various sports Halls of Fame.

Dr. Arthur Wint was a humble man, a man of impeccable integrity who took a cold beer and a game of dominoes in his stride.

Today, May 25, 2020, he would have been 100 years old. Let us salute the memory of one who represented the first indication of the track giant Jamaica was to become. Through him, Jamaica demonstrated that our size would not hold us back.Arthur Stanley Wint, a son of Manchester and a giant of a man for Jamaica in any way we look at him. 

We salute you.

Honourable Olivia Grange, CD,