The athletics world has been stunned by the sudden death of one of the sport's best known managers, Kim McDonald, who ran his operation from offices in High Street, Hampton.

McDonald, who was only 45, died from a suspected heart attack while holidaying in Brisbane, Australia.

Yorkshire-born McDonald was a reasonable athlete in his younger days, running the mile in just outside four minutes and completing the marathon in two hours 19 minutes.

However, he was outshone by his more famous contemporaries Steve Ovett and Seb Coe who dominated the middle-distance scene in the 1970s.

In the mid-1980s, McDonald turned with enormous success to coaching and management, overseeing the sport's largest and most successful agency.

Biggest

He was one of the first people to recognise athletes would need to be represented by agents in the new professional world of the sport and he looked after some of the athletics' biggest names such as Ovett and Sonia O'Sullivan.

Earlier, on trips he made to Africa, he had seen the potential for Kenyan athletics development and he later played a huge role in enabling so many Kenyans to develop and enjoy enormous success in middlle and long-distance running, writes Tom Pollack.

Many of them stayed at a house he owned in Park Road, Teddington, from where they trained in both Bushey and Richmond Parks and on the Kingsmeadow track.

His most recent success was Noah Ngeny, the young Kenyan who produced the shock of last year's Sydney Olympics when he beat the favourite, Hicham El Guerrouj, to win the 1500 metres gold medal.

Tragic

Lamine Diack, president of the International Association of Athletics Federations, who appointed McDonald as his special adviser said: "This is tragic news, particularly because of the sudden nature of Kim's death.

"I am sure the world athletics family feel with me the tragic loss of this great manager."

Ngeny said: "We are orphaned. This man was our mentor, agent, adviser and father."

November 16, 2001 12:01