John Akii-Bua (3 December 1949 – 20 June 1997) was a

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

hurdler Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

and the first

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

champion from his country Uganda and Africa at large. In 1986, he was a recipient of the Silver

Olympic Order The Olympic Order, established in 1975, is the highest award of the Olympic Movement. It is awarded for particularly distinguished contributions to the Olympic Movement, i.e. recognition of efforts worthy of merit in the cause of sport. Traditi ...

Biography

Akii-Bua was raised in a family of 43 children from one father and his eight wives. Akii-Bua started his athletic career as a short-distance hurdler, but failed to qualify for the 1968 Olympics. Coached by British-born athletics coach

Malcolm Arnold Sir Malcolm Henry Arnold (21 October 1921 – 23 September 2006) was an English composer. His works feature music in many genres, including a cycle of nine symphonies, numerous concertos, concert works, chamber music, choral music and music ...

, he was introduced to the 400 meter hurdles.IAAF, 5 June 2008
Inzikuru to return to action in Akii Bua CAA Grand Prix After finishing fourth in the 1970

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

and running the fastest time of 1971, he was not a big favourite for the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, having limited competitive experience. Nevertheless, he won the final there, setting a world record time of 47.82 seconds despite running on the inside lane. He missed the 1976 Olympics and a showdown with United States rival

Edwin Moses Edwin Corley Moses (born August 31, 1955) is an American former track and field athlete who won gold medals in the 400 m hurdles at the 1976 and 1984 Olympics. Between 1977 and 1987, Moses won 107 consecutive finals (122 consecutive races) and ...

because of the boycott by Uganda and other African nations. As a police officer, Akii-Bua was promoted by Ugandan president

Idi Amin Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 16 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He ruled as a military dictator and is considered one of the most brutal despots in modern w ...

and given a house as a reward for his athletic prowess. When the Amin regime was collapsing, he fled to

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

with his family, fearful that he would be seen as a collaborator; this was more likely because he was a member of the Langi tribe, many of whom were persecuted by Amin, whereas Akii-Bua was cited by Amin as an example of a Langi who was doing well. However, in Kenya he was put into a refugee camp. From there, he was freed by his shoe-manufacturer Puma and lived in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

working for Puma for 3–4 years. He represented Uganda once again at the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

. Later he returned to Uganda and became a coach.The John Akii-Bua Story: an African Tragedy
documentary by Dan Gordon, ''BBC2'', 10 August 2008 Akii-Bua died a widower, at the age of 47, survived by eleven children. He was given a state funeral. His nephew is international footballer

David Obua David Obua (born 10 April 1984) is a Ugandan football coach and former player. He is the assistant coach of Maroons FC in the Ugandan Premier League. During his playing career, Obua played for Police FC, Raleigh Capital Express, Wilmingto ...

, and his brother

Lawrence Ogwang Lawrence Ogwang (17 December 1932 – 1970s) was a Ugandan long and triple jumper. He was the brother of the Olympic athlete John Akii-Bua and was murdered during the reign of Idi Amin. Career He won a gold medal in the long jump at the 1 ...

competed in the long jump and triple jump at the 1956 Olympics.John Akii-Bua
. sports-reference.com The phrase "''akii-buas''" has come to colloquially mean "runs" in Uganda.

References

External links