Jonah Lomu: records show New Zealand legend won 10 out of 13 events at his college athletics championships in 1989

His sporting prowess was there from a young age

Jonah Lomu's incredible record from 1989 (twitter.com/tmurphyNZ)

New Zealand rugby union legend Jonah Lomu passed away at the age of 40 on Wednesday morning.

All Blacks team doctor John Mayhew confirmed that Lomu died at his home in Auckland.

Mayhew told the New Zealand Herald that Lomu's well-known kidney issues would inevitably have had something to do with his heart stopping.

Such was Lomu’s sporting prowess from a young age; he won 10 out of 13 individual events at his college’s athletics championships in 1989.

Included in his victories was the 100m, 200m, and the discus.

The wing’s former teacher at Wesley College, Richard Smythe, said he always said he wanted to be an All Black. He went on to win 63 caps for his country, scoring 185 points.

Jonah Lomu overpowers England's Jeremy Guscott in the 1999 World Cup (PA)

"He was a big, huge fellow, but he was a gentle giant,” Smythe said.

"He set up weights in a spare room. I asked him what they were for he said, 'Sir, I want to be an All Black.'

Lomu had suffered from health problems since his retirement from the game in 2002 due to the kidney disease. A kidney transplant in 2004 fixed him for seven and a half years but his body rejected it in 2011.