Testimonials & Tributes

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No history of World or British athletics in the late 1940's and early 1950's is complete  without detailed reference to an athlete the mention of whose name revives so many vivid memories...

The first thing you noticed about Arthur Wint was his height - equivalent to an international high-jump mark in the days immediately after World War II. Then when he began to run, it was his stride - around 9ft. and  a bit ....So magnificent was his stride that it sometimes made spectators gasp and laugh in amazement. And then there was the deceptive power. He never seemed to be putting great effort into his running, but that was an illusion. He was covering ground at an incredible speed...

Excerpt from the November 2006 issue of TrackStats) by David Thurlow.

I want to take this opportunity to say how very proud I am and have always been of Dr. Arthur Wint. I was born in Ghana and growing up   everyone, both young and old in the Gold Coast, as the nations was called in the colonial days, was aware of ARTHUR WINT for his athletic prowess. We children would race against each other, with the winner calling himself Arthur Wint. 

There were also several athletics clubs in the country and people would ask if the champion sprinters could run like Arthur Wint. In other words, Arthur Wint was who everyone aspired to be. On this occasion of his 100th birthday I want to take the opportunity to say thank you to the Wint Family in Jamaica for giving us an accomplished Black man we in Africa could look up to, and to the spirit of the great man.

"Mmo ne yo!" (Asante for "Congratulations for your accomplishments.")

Bannister was the first man to break the 4-minute mile, in 1954. He knew Arthur, and speaks of him in his autobiography The Four-Minute Mile.

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I remember Arthur Wint’s breakdown with muscle cramp in the 4x400 metres relay [London, 1948], when he was struggling to catch up with the Americans. This was perhaps the most moving and tragic moment of the whole Games. Within the space of a week Wint had completed the first round, semi-final and final of the 400 metres, snatching victory in the last few strides from the favourite, his fellow Jamaican and world record holder, Herb McKenley.

Now with McKenley in his own team, he was attempting to win the 4x400 metres relay title for the tiny island of Jamaica against the massed forces of the American team… No one in the American team could over-top the two giants, Wint and McKenley.

Rhoden was the first runner for Jamaica...