McArthur, Kennedy Kane

McArthur, Kennedy Kane (1881–1960), Olympic gold medallist, was born 10 February 1881 on a small farm near Dervock, Co. Antrim, eldest son among seven children of Robert and Mary Ann McArthur. He became a postman, and usually ran the whole of his fifteen-mile (24 km) route; he played for Dervock soccer team. In 1905 he emigrated to Johannesburg, South Africa, and became a policeman. He won the South African five-mile and cross-country titles in 1907 and 1908, and in 1911 set a South African record for the ten-mile (16 km) race which stood for thirty years. He won the South African marathon in 1908, 1909, and 1912, and was selected to represent South Africa in the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. A field of 151 runners started a twenty-five-mile (40 km) marathon on 14 July; it was a very hot day, and only thirty-four finished; a Portuguese competitor died of heatstroke. McArthur and another South African runner were in the lead; McArthur chose not to stop to drink water, and won in an Olympic record time of 2 hours, 36 minutes, and 54.8 seconds, a minute clear of the second-placed runner. It was reported in McArthur's obituary that he had been about to give up the race when a shout from an Ulster supporter, ‘Come on Antrim, come on ye boy ye!’, gave him renewed courage to continue. McArthur was chaired round the stadium, and received a hero's welcome in Dervock where he spent a few months before returning to South Africa. After he retired from the police force, he farmed in Co. Antrim 1931–6, and was a guest at a dinner in 1932 in Dublin to honour medal winners of the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. He was present at a ceremony in Ballymoney, Co. Antrim, when a plaque in his honour was unveiled. He returned to South Africa and despite ill health (he smoked heavily all his life) worked as a security officer; he was 6 ft 1 in. (1.85 m) tall and well built, the biggest man ever to win an Olympic marathon race. On 13 June 1960 he died suddenly at Potchefstroom, South Africa, where he is buried. His wife was Johanna Jacoba Christina Louw; they had no children. The sports stadium in Potchefstroom is called after him, and he is still remembered in his birthplace with pride.