John Akii-Bua of Uganda was promoted by the dictator Idi Amin Dada to deputy inspector of the police force and the main road in Kampala is named after the renowned Welsh-American adventurer-soldier-explorer-journalist Henry Morton Stanley was renamed by the dictator as “Akii-Bua Road”. This was just a few months after Akii lowered the world record for 400 meters hurdles to 47.82 seconds at the Munich Olympics in early September 1972. Among many other things, Henry Stanley is known for extolling Uganda as the “Pearl of Africa”. In fact, Henry Stanley often stated or implied that he was the first to assign the term to Uganda.
“… ‘Pearl of Africa’ … I applied that … term to Uganda … Many … travelers … explain the term by citing the fertility of the soil and the variety of its products, but the truth is that the term aptly illustrates the superior value of Uganda due to its population, the intelligence of its people, its strategic position for trade and for spreading Christianity, all of which make it a pre-eminently desirable colony for a trade and civilizing nation like ours [England]”(Stanley 1895: 719-720).
In January 1973, 23-year-old Akii-Bua, fresh out of Munich and still highly celebrated nationally, was now in Nigeria in front of an excited large capacity crowd ready to witness the performance of the first African to win and establish a world record in such a technical and grueling event. VIPs who attended the track event included the President of Nigeria, General Yakubu Gowon. The 400 meter hurdles that require speed, timing and jumping are still known as the “man killer”.
On January 11 in Lagos at the Second All-Africa Games, in a 400mh semi-final, a laid-back Akii took his time and still won in 50.7. He was very confident that despite the absence of the best world-class competitors he had faced in the Olympics, he would actually have broken his own world record if he had given the effort and technique. He commented: “I ran six hurdles with a 13-stride pattern and then came down to 14-15 strides in the last 200 meters … at full speed, I would have passed the 48-second mark” (AAP-Reuters: 1973).
Akii-Bua would also say that he had learned a lot about technique and perfectly timing obstacles from his encouraging friend and hurdler ace David (Dave) Hemery from Great Britain, considered one of the best hurdles runners ever. In 1968 at the Mexico City Olympics, Hemery set a world record (48.12) in the 400mh finals. Hemery finished nearly a second ahead of West German silver medalist Gerhard Hennige. Hemery was third at the Munich Olympics. In Lagos, Akii also said he had contracted malaria, six months before the Munich Olympics (AAP-Reuters: 1973).
The final line-up for the 400mh in Lagos notably included William (Bill) Koskei of Kenya, who as an immigrant had competed for Uganda and won a silver medal at the 1970 Commonwealth Games event in Edinburgh. Akii was fourth then. But in 1971 in Durham, North Carolina, in a meeting between the United States and Africa, Akii beat Koskei and others and set a world-leading time of 49 seconds. It was then that the athletics world saw the seemingly laid-back and laid-back hurdler Akii-Bua as one of the main contenders for gold at the upcoming Olympic Games in Munich. Koskei was also regarded as a hopeful for the Olympic medal, but in Munich he would finish fourth in the first round and thus be eliminated. Akii, on the other hand, won in all three of her heats, including the finals in which she set a world record.
Unlike at the Munich Olympics in which Akii was caught in the disadvantageous inner “narrow” lanes, in Lagos, in the final, he was placed in a center lane, which is easier to traverse. The gun went off at Lagos and Akii quickly exploded. He seemed to relax a bit and slow down after the last corner, and then suddenly he picked up speed. Days later, Akii would comment that he did indeed slow down, but when he looked in the stands at the jubilant and colorful uniformed dignitaries including Nigerian President Gowon, he decided to run faster. He didn’t have to as he was way ahead of the rest of the field. Akii-Bua won in an incredible 48.54 seconds. Although Akii had not achieved his lofty goal of erasing his own world record, the time would be the best in the world at 400mh in 1973, and it remains one of the best ever contested on African soil. Almost two seconds behind, William Koskei was second (50.22) in a photo-final with Silver Ayoo (50.25) from Uganda who won the bronze medal.
Overall, Uganda ranked fourth in the All-Africa Games in Lagos, and that performance in which the nation won many medals (exclusively in athletics and boxing) remains Uganda’s best at these Games. Uganda finished with 8 gold medals, 6 silver medals and 6 bronze medals, placing Uganda in fourth place overall behind Egypt, Nigeria and Kenya, respectively.
Cited works
AAP-Reuters. “Attempted Ugandan Plans in World Time”. Canberra Times. January 12, 1973.
Stanley, HM “Uganda Railway”. The Saturday Magazine of politics, literature, science and art. Flight. 79 (1895): 719-720.