Herb McKenley cannot be measured merely by statistics, as grand as they are and as much as they confirm his greatness. Which, of course, is not to trivialise the story told by figures, if at all that was possible.

He was, after all, the first man to run a sub-46-seconds 400 metres and sub-45 relay leg. He remains, more than a half a century later, the only person to have reached the finals at the Olympics in the 100 metres, 200 metres and 400 metres. He held world records in the 400 metres, and at 440 yards. And there, too, a small matter of three individual silver medals at the Olympics.

Moreover, his run in the third leg of the 4x400 metre relay in the 1952 Olympics that helped Jamaica win the gold, remains a feat of legend; the kind of performance that, many generations from now, people will continue to speak about when they gather around whatever may be the technological successor to fire.

In a sense, that run begins the definition of Herb McKenley. His was an indomitable spirit; he had a capacity to put behind him personal disappointments and to continue to strive for the goal. This epic run may not have obliterated McKenley's personal disappointments - of London in '48 or of the cruelty of fate in the later races in Helsinki. Yet in the eyes of the world it transported Herb McKenley to the place occupied not by ordinary mortals, but those of sublime gift and performance.

Herb McKenley himself, was not consumed by personal glory and adulation. Like the man he was, he appreciated and enjoyed the recognition and was not falsely modest about his gifts and achievements. But he was never boastful nor vain and neither was he selfish. His talent and any gifts that came with them were to be shared - with the world, but more so with Jamaica. And that, perhaps, was the greater personification of Herb McKenley - his generosity of spirit.

It is known that Herb McKenley ran, and ran with magnificence. It is understood, that McKenley did not believe that either himself, people like him or Jamaica, was constrained by history or geography. It is known, too, that McKenley offered his talent as administrator and coach.

What is not so well known - which McKenley preferred not to be known - is the fact that he often dug deep into his pocket, to the detriment, we suspect, of family finances, to ensure the well-being of talented athletes - and sometimes their families. To put it bluntly, he often fed and clothed these youngsters, and many at a time. He did it because he believed that they deserved the best chance.

It is the same spirit that propelled Herb McKenley into politics. Yet again, his spirit of generosity and his capacity to rise above the petty meant that his politics was never tribal. He differed politically with Michael Manley, but theirs remained a great friendship and mutual admiration.

Herb has had his final race, but he started a relay that can and must never end.