Patrick Etolu (17 March 1935 – 24 December 2013) was a

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The ...

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

er. He was born in

Soroti District Soroti District is a district in Eastern Uganda. It is named after its chief municipal, administrative and commercial headquarters, Soroti, where the district headquarters are located. Location Soroti District is bordered by Amuria District to ...

, Eastern Region,

. He won the high jump at the 1953 Central African Games. Etolu competed internationally at the

1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

where he won the silver medal in the

with a jump of . In doing so, he became the first athlete to win a medal for

Uganda at the Commonwealth Games Uganda has competed in fifteen Commonwealth Games, from 1954. Medallists List of medallists Overall medal tally With 39 medals, Uganda ranked eighteenth as of 2008 in the All-time medal tally of Commonwealth Games, all-time tally of medals. ...

. Two years later in November 1956 in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

, Etolu cleared . This set a national record which stood until May 1999. One month later he was part of the maiden Ugandan team that competed at the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, w ...

. He finished in equal 12th place in the

with a jump of . At the

1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games (Welsh: Gemau Ymerodraeth Prydain a'r Gymanwlad 1958) were held in Cardiff, Wales, from 18–26 July 1958. Thirty-five nations sent a total of 1,130 athletes and 228 officials to the Cardiff Games ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, he finished in fourth place in the final of the

with a jump of . At his final international meet, the

1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Perth, Australia, from 22 November to 1 December 1962. Athletic events were held at Perry Lakes Stadium in the suburb of Floreat and swimming events at Beatty Park in North Perth. The ...

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Western Australia, Etolu finished ninth in the

clearing the bar at . Etolu died on 24 December 2013 in

Mulago Hospital Mulago National Specialised Hospital, also known as Mulago National Referral Hospital, is a component of Mulago Hospital Complex, the teaching facility of Makerere University College of Health Sciences. It is the largest public hospital in Ug ...

at the age of 78 after being admitted with breathing difficulties and swollen legs. He is survived by his wife and six children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Etolu, Patrick 1935 births 2013 deaths People from Eastern Region, Uganda Male high jumpers Ugandan high jumpers Ugandan male athletes Olympic male high jumpers Olympic athletes of Uganda Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Uganda Athletes (track and field) at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games 20th-century Ugandan people 21st-century Ugandan people