Kingston, Jamaica — Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Olivia Grange, has expressed sadness at the passing of Olympian, Dr Cynthia Thompson.

“This heroine of Jamaican sport and medicine has completed a remarkable journey and our country is so much better for her service,” the minister said.

Thompson passed away at hospital yesterday at the age of 96.

“I am very sad at the passing of Dr Cynthia Thompson. On this day when we celebrated our women and their achievement, Cynthia Thompson was in our hearts,” Grange said in a statement from her ministry last night.

“Over the course of her remarkable, long and successful life, this wonderful woman served us in many ways. She came to prominence as a trailblazer in women’s sport when she represented Jamaica at the 1948 Olympics and made the finals of the 100 metres. She finished 6th, but she won a bigger prize — that of inspiring countless Jamaica athletes who followed that they could do as much and more,” Grange said.

The minister said the death of Thompson, who served for many years as a paediatrician, represents the end of an era.