Combermere honours first Barbadian Olympian

by David Hinkson

Some 70 years after he made his debut at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, Finland, Barbados’ first ever Olympian, Kenneth Aubrey “Ken” Farnum, has been recognised by his alma mater, the Combermere School.

During a plaque unveiling ceremony at the school on Monday, President of the Barbados Cycling Union, Charles Lynch, took the audience, which included members of Farnum’s family, through some highlights of his career.

“Ken Farnum developed an interest in competitive cycling from the age of ten years old, and from the time he won his first race shortly after entering the Combermere School, he moved quickly through the ranks, from Beginner to Class B, skipping the Intermediate level and moving on to Class A, where he competed with much older boys.

He won the National Championship in Barbados for the first time at 18 years old, then eventually became the undefeated sprint champion in the Caribbean, winning races in Jamaica, Trinidad and British Guiana.”

Lynch said as a result of this, school principal and sports administrator, the late Louis Lynch, tried to get him into the 1952 Olympic Games.

“Lynch started a Farnum for Finland Fund to facilitate this, but since Barbados did not yet have Olympic status, arrangements were made for him to participate as a member of the Jamaican team.

He travelled to England first so that he could get accustomed to the types of tracks available in Europe, and eventually he placed 20th overall in the time trial event, despite the fact he was competing on unfamiliar tracks against people who were much better trained.

He and a Guyanese rider, Laddie Lewis, were the only two black cyclists at the 1952 Olympics.”

In 1954, Farnum married and moved to the United States, where he worked with Western Union for many years, but also continued cycling, winning the New York State Cycling Championship for three years in a row between 1955 and 1957, and inspiring many black cyclists along the way. He passed away at the age of 89 in 2020.

His niece, Karen Sheafe-Bynoe, shared her mother’s recollections of Farnum’s childhood. “At five years old his father gave him a bicycle, and he rode it all through the house, very carefully, without training wheels, on a regular basis. Many times his father threatened to cut it in half or hid it from him but he always found it.

Apart from riding he also skated, and he once owned a Triumph motorcycle which he performed stunts on, but he always loved his bicycle.

He even installed two rollers in the house on which he trained in bad weather, always ate healthy, and he also founded a cycling club, the Jet Wheelers.”

Cousin Earl Clarke, also a cyclist, noted that Farnum “brought people of all classes together when they came to see him race at Kensington Oval, and every time the races ended, he would ride slowly around the track waving his hands and nodding his head as the audience cheered him on.

He was a very modest man who never let his successes get the better of him, and he always treated people with respect.”

Andrew Greene of the Combermere School Old Scholars Association (CSOSA) stated that honouring Farnum was part of an ongoing project honouring the school’s distinguished alumni. “Our history department is planning to establish a museum so our current student body can learn more about the prominent people who have passed through these doors over the years.

We have some photographs and other material dating back as far as the 1800s, and to be honest, I personally did not know about Ken Farnum until this project began.

Owing to the fact he represented Jamaica at the Olympics, much of the information on the Internet says he is Jamaican, but we are proud to say he is one of us.”