IN HONOUR OF

THE LATE KENNETH AUBREY FARNUM, 1931 – 2020

COMBERMERE SCHOOL, 5.00 PM, MAY 23, 2022

CITATION

KEN FARNUM WAS BORN, KENNETH AUBREY FARNUM, ON JANUARY 18, 1931 IN ST. MICHAEL. AT THE AGE OF TEN, KEN DEVELOPED AN INTEREST IN CYCLING THAT INTENSIFIED WHEN HE WAS A TEENAGE STUDENT AT COMBERMERE SCHOOL. HE FOLLOWED HIS PASSION AND BEGAN A VERY SUCCESSFUL COMPETITIVE CYCLING CAREER. FARNUM STARTED BY RIDING A ROADSTER BIKE IN A LOCAL RACE AND WON THE EVENT WHICH IGNITED THAT PASSION. THIS RESULTED IN THE PURCHASE OF HIS FIRST RACING BIKE SOON AFTERWARDS. IN A RAPID RISE, FARNUM ROSE FROM BEGINNER’S CLASS TO CLASS B DIVISION BY WINNING EVERY EVENT, THUS SKIPPING OVER THE INTERMEDIATE CLASS. KEN PROCEEDED TO RACE IN THE STRONGEST, COMPETITIVE CLASS ON THE ISLAND, CLASS A DIVISION. 

HIS PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES MADE HIM A TACTICAL RACER WHO DESPITE HIS AGE, WAS POWERING BIG GEARS AND IN HIS FIRST A CLASS COMPETITION AT AGE 18, HE WON THE ISLAND CHAMPION TITLE. THIS WAS FOLLOWED BY MANY MORE VICTORIES IN BARBADOS AND ACROSS THE CARIBBEAN IN JAMAICA,TRINIDAD AND BRITISH GUIANA. EIGHT TIMES IN A ROW HE WAS THE WEST INDIES SPRINT CHAMPION MAKING HIM THE UNDEFEATED CHAMPION OF THE WEST INDIES THROUGHOUT HIS TIME IN BARBADOS AND HE EARNED THE NICKNAME. “THE CHAMP”.

AT AGE 21, FARNUM WAS SETTING HIS SIGHTS ON THE OLYMPICS. THE “FARNUM FOR FINLAND FUND” WAS ESTABLISHED  TO FINANCE HIS PARTICIPATING  IN THE 1952 OLYMPIC GAMES IN HELSINKI, FINLAND, WITH THE LATE LOUIS LYNCH, FORMER HEAD OF THE NOW DEFUNCT MODERN HIGH SCHOOL, PLAYING A LEADING ROLE IN THE INITIATIVE. BUT SINCE BARBADOS HAD NO OLYMPIC STATUS BEFORE 1962, ARRANGEMENTS WERE  MADE FOR HIM TO PARTICIPATE AS A MEMBER OF THE JAMAICAN TEAM. HE TRAVELLED TO ENGLAND TO FAMILIARIZE HIMSELF WITH INTERNATIONAL RACING CONDITIONS WHICH, AMONG OTHERS, WERE TOTALLY DIFFERENT FROM THE FLAT GRASS TRACKS USED IN THE WEST INDIES.

DURING THE GAMES IN HIS FIRST HEAT, AGAINST THE FRENCH AND RUSSIAN CYCLISTS HE BEAT THE RUSSIAN IN THE 1000 METER SPRINT, BUT CAME IN 1/6 OF A SECOND AFTER THE FRENCHMAN. ULTIMATELY, FARNUM PLACED 20TH IN THE 1000-METER TIME TRIAL. ALTHOUGH THIS MADE HIM INELIGIBLE TO PROGRESS FURTHER, KEN HAD COMPETED TO THE BEST OF HIS ABILITY AGAINST UNASSAILABLE ODDS, INCLUDING A VELODROME AND ASSOCIATED CONDITIONS COMPLETELY NEW TO HIM. HE HOWEVER HAD MADE HISTORY AS THE FIRST BARBADIAN TO HAVE COMPETED IN AN OLYMPIC GAMES AND THE ONLY BLACK CYCLIST IN THE 1952 OLYMPICS. HE WAS THE ONLY CYCLIST IN THE JAMAICAN CONTINGENT AND TOGETHER WITH GUYANESE LIONEL “LADDIE” LEWIS, 1948 GAMES, WAS  AMONG THE FIRST BLACKS EVER TO COMPETE IN OLYMPIC CYCLING, A SPORT THEN AND FOR SEVERAL YEARS LATER WAS THE EXCLUSIVE DOMAIN OF WHITES. 

IN 1954, KEN FARNUM MARRIED AND MOVED TO THE  UNITED STATES AND BECAME AN EMPLOYEE OF WESTERN UNION, AFTER HAVING  WORKED FOR CABLE & WIRELESS, BARBADOS BEFORE MOVING TO  THE USA. HE BECAME ONE OF THE FIRST BLACK WESTERN UNION NATIONAL ACCOUNTS SUPERVISORS.

THERE IN THE US, FARNUM CONTINUED HIS CAREER AS A CYCLIST, RIDING FOR MILES BEFORE GOING TO HIS WORKPLACE, CONTINUING ALMOST EXACTLY FROM WHERE HE LEFT OFF IN BARBADOS.  HE SUCCEEDED IN BECOMING THE  NEW YORK STATE CYCLING CHAMPION THREE TIMES IN A ROW – IN 1955, 1956 AND 1957. “FARNUM, A BROWN-SKINNED CYCLIST IN A SPORT DOMINATED BY WHITE RIDERS”, WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK AND THUS BECAME A “FOLK HERO”. HE ALSO TOOK YOUNG AFRICAN AMERICAN RACING CYCLISTS LIKE HERB FRANCIS AND PERRY METZLER UNDER HIS WING AND INSPIRED MANY OTHERS. FARNUM IS MENTIONED IN PETER NYE’S BOOK “HEARTS OF LIONS“, WHICH PROFILES MAJOR AMERICAN CYCLISTS.

ON APRIL 4, 2020, FARNUM DIED IN NEW YORK AT THE AGE OF 89. BUT KEN FARNUM WAS MORE THAN A PIONEERING SPORTSMAN. HE WAS AN ABLE AND DEDICATED FAMILY MAN AND  HE IS SURVIVED BY HIS WIFE AND TWO CHILDREN, JUDY AND KEN JR. THE COMMEMORATIVE BRONZE PLAQUE  IS PROUDLY PRESENTED THIS  AFTERNOON BY HIS FAMILY IN HIS HONOURED MEMORY WITH THE COMPLIMENTS AND SUPPORT OF THE BARBADOS OLYMPIC ASSOCIATION AND ITS AFFILIATE, THE BARBADOS CYCLING UNION AND THE COMBERMERE SCHOOL OLD SCHOLARS ASSOCIATION. THE BARBADOS CYCLING UNION IS PROUD TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH THE UNVEILING OF THE PLAQUE GIVEN AND RECEIVED IN THE SPIRIT OF CELEBRATING THOSE WHO HAVE INSPIRED EXCELLENCE TO THE VERY HIGHEST STANDARDS OF ACHIEVEMENT IN ANY FIELD, IN THIS CASE, SPORTS .

KEN FARNUM’S WISH WAS TO SEE UNITY IN THE SPORT OF CYCLING. HE WAS DEEPLY INFLUENCED BY THE PRINCIPLES OF THE OLYMPIC OATH. HE WOULD HAVE BEEN PLEASED TO LEARN THAT IN 2021 THE OLYMPIC MOTTO, WHICH RECOGNIZES THE POWER OF UNIFICATION AND SOLIDARITY IN SPORT, NOW READS “FASTER, HIGHER, STRONGER – TOGETHER”.

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