HERB McKenley yesterday breathed his last breath in the race of life from the large majestic lungs that brought him personal glory and set a nation on track for athletic stardom.

Two strokes and a heart attack which reduced him to a shadow of his former self in recent years, proved too much for the man who molded Jamaica’s track and field in the image of himself.

Information reaching the Observer said McKenley had been experiencing problems with his kidneys.

In the Tony Thwaites wing of the University Hospital of the West Indies, Mona, the 85-year-old Olympian, in death, symbolically passed the baton to a generation of track speedsters, who carry on the tradition he blazed in 1944 – Jamaica then a British colonial outpost in the empire on which the sun would never set.

The sporting fraternity, half expecting that the inevitable would come, was nevertheless shocked and in heavy mourning yesterday as news emerged of the passing of the great Herb Henry McKenley, the unmatched legend bearing his country’s third highest honour, the Order of Merit.

World sporting history will forever recount the unbelievable race winning third leg that McKenley ran as a member of Jamaica’s winning mile relay team at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. Since then, Jamaica has never looked back.

“I would like to extend my sympathies and that of the government of Jamaica to his widow and all the members of his family and to all those who have been associated with him over the these many years, and indeed to all athletics lovers who so revered this great son of Jamaica,” said Prime Minister Bruce Golding, who was among thousands of Jamaicans who expressed condolences to the survivors of the track and field icon.

Golding returned to the island from the Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit in Uganda to the tragic news.

Opposition leader and former minister of sports, Portia Simpson Miller, for whom McKenley served as an advisor for many years, was very saddened by the news of his death.

“His patriotism, loyalty and his commitment to the development of sports (in Jamaica) is unparalleled,” said the former prime minister.

“I’m hoping that my dream of establishing the Herb McKenley Sports Centre at Argyle Road, St Andrew will be carried on by this administration. befitting the greatness of this Jamaican, who left us this afternoon,” she added.

President of the Jamaica Amateur Athletics Association (JAAA), Howard Aris, received word of McKenley’s death within moments of his passing. “I got a call from his wife (Beverly) at around five minutes to six that he had died,” he said, his voice breaking.

“His greatness was not only on the track, but off the track as well. He was my great friend and he’ll be sadly missed because track and field in sport has lost a great Jamaican,” Aris added.

McKenley, who was head coach of Jamaica’s team from 1954 to 1973, served also as president of the JAAA. He received Jamaica’s third highest national award, the OM in 2004.

McKenley, who was born on July 10, 1922 in Pleasant Valley, Clarendon achieved the unique feat by taking three bronze medals at the 1951 Pan-American Games in the 100m, 200m and 400m.

President of the Jamaica Olympic Association Mike Fennel said McKenley’s passing is not only a blow for Jamaica but also for the world of athletics.

“This man was huge and his contribution to sports in Jamaica was monumental,” said Fennel.

“He was always looking out for the youngsters, always looking for new talent, always seeking ways to help them to build and never losing his vision for the possibilities of our athletes on the world stage,” Fennel said.