John Akii-Bua Triumph and Tragedy After Uganda's Olympic Gold Medal Win
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John Akii-Bua Triumph and Tragedy After Uganda's Olympic Gold Medal Win Written by Jonathan Musere The second All-Africa Games, after the 400 meters-hurdles Olympic gold medal win in Munich in September 1972, were John Akii-Bua's next important tournament. The Africa Games were held from 7th to 18th January 1973 in the Nigeria capital city Lagos. Africa great Bill Koskei (Kenya) made it to the finals of the men's 400m hurdles. Also in the final line-up was Akii the nemesis of Koskei. John Akii-Bua of Uganda was expected to win. Akii-Bua won easily, but what is astonishing is that Akii-Bua won in a very fast time of 48.54s--at that time among the fastest time ever run in the hurdles' race, and the second best time during that year and best time ever on African soil. Koskei grabbed the silver, running nearly a full two seconds (50.22s) behind Akii-Bua, and a photo-finish ahead of bronze medalist Silver Ayoo (50.25s) of Uganda. Akii-Bua would soon remark that although he was comfortably far ahead of the pack, as he approached the final bend of the race, a glimpse of the conspicuously military-adorned and revered Nigerian president General Yakubu Dan-Yumma Gowon high in the stands and watching and cheering, boosted him on to speed up. Interestingly, later on July 25 1975, a coup d'etat lead by Brigadier Murtala Ramat Mohammed overthrew General Gowon as he attended an Organization of African Unity (OAU) summit being held in Kampala. Corruption, financial laxness and mismanagement, and the postponement of national elections were among the accusations leveled upon the Gowon regime. During 1973, Akii maintained his position of world's leading intermediate hurdler on the globe. His leading time was 48.49 seconds. Second in ranking in 1973 was American Jim Bolding (48.8s) who had been a student and outstanding All-American star at Oklahoma State University (1969-1972) and would turn out to be Akii's main American competitor. Ralph Mann's best time in 1973 (49.3 seconds) moved him down to third ranking in the world. William Koskei, with a time of 49.34s moved down to 7th ranked and this compared to the previous year when Koskei was ranked 6th. The Akii-Bolding rivalry included Akii beating Bolding in a track meet held in the third week of June 1973; Bolding beating Akii at the end of June 1973 whereby he won in a Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/4744986 Published: 07/27/2010 photo-finish at an international meet in Sweden in a relatively mediocre time of 50 seconds; Akii losing to Bolding (49.0 seconds) at the end of July 1975; and Akii beating Bolding during the middle of August 1975. Earlier on in early July 1975, Jim Bolding became ranked first in the world (48.55s, during a track meet in Paris). During the same year Alan Pascoe of Great Britain attained 48.59 seconds and achieved the number-two ranking. Akii's best time of 48.67 seconds during this year shifted him down to third-ranked in the world. Interestingly, probably because of inadequate training and/or participation, possibly injury, Akii was not ranked among the world's top-10 during 1974. This year, the Commonwealth Games held in Christchurch in New Zealand would have been Akii's best chance at a Commonwealth Games gold medal. However, at a track meet in the first week of July 1974, Jim Bolding set an American record of 48.10s and beat Akii into third place. Just as he would be in the following year, Jim Bolding became ranked number one in the world. In retrospect, as an injured newcomer to the intermediate hurdles Akii-Bua had finished fourth at the finals behind (respectively) John Sherwood (England), William Koskei (Uganda), and Charles Kipkemboi Yego (Kenya) at the British Commonwealth Games that were held in Edinburgh in Scotland in 1970. In late June 1975, at an international track meet in Helsinki in Finland, Jim Bolding after powerfully leading during the first 300 meters, was comfortably beaten by Akii-Bua. However, the top winner, at these "World Games," held in Helsinki was Alan Pascoe of Great Britain. At a track meet held in Stuttgart in Germany in late 1975, Akii won by far in an impressive time of 48.72 seconds, Jim Bolding was second in about a second away in 49.60 seconds. Akii-Bua in early June 1976 became the main highlight star at a German international meet held in Dusseldorf when he won in both the 400-flat and the 400mh. The competition was overwhelmingly of German nationals, but it was importantly regarded as an Olympics-1976 Games' qualifier. Akii-Bua's 400mh win in 48.58 seconds was his personal best for the year. An excellent time, it would still lag behind into 5th best for the year behind the recordings for Edwin Moses (USA), Quentin Wheeler and Tom Andrews (USA, 48.55s), and Jim Bolding (USA, 48.57s). The more frequent sub-49-second runs spelled more competition in the intermediate hurdles! Akii-Bua's win in the 400 meters-flat final at the Dusseldorf meet was in a personal best time of 45.82 seconds. Akii beat upcoming Olympic relay bronze-medalist German Franz-Peter Hofmeister (46.39s) into second place, and European record-holder and Olympic finalist Karl Honz (West Germany) fading into third place. Only a couple of months before Montreal 1976, this was Akii's most profound pre-Olympic display of Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/4744986 Published: 07/27/2010 evidence that he was very much in contention for another Olympic medal. Akii had trained in the city Dortmund in preparation for the Olympic Games. In the third week of June 1976, Akii-Bua tore a thigh (left hamstring) muscle that could have reduced his chances of a medal at the 1976 Olympics at Montreal. Additionally and unfortunately, medal hopes Jim Bolding and Ralph Mann failed to secure one of the three berths on the USA team for the Olympics. They were beaten into 4th and 6th place, respectively. Worse still for Akii-Bua, Uganda boycotted the Olympics held in Montreal. American Olympic qualifiers at the USA trials were 20 year-old Edwin Moses (48.30 seconds) a physics-industrial engineering student at renowned Morehouse College in Atlanta (Georgia), 21 year-old Quentin David Wheeler (San Diego State University), and 22 year-old Mike Shine of Pennsylvania State University. At the Olympic Games, unheralded Mike Shine surprisingly won a silver medal doing it lane 1..the same disadvantageous lane placing that Akii-Bua contended with in the previous Olympics! His personal best time of 48.69s placed him 6th in the world in 1976. It was the first and last time that Mike Shine would shine in this top ten list. Quentin Wheeler managed a 4th place finish behind Soviet Yevgeny Gavrilenko who was a finalist at the previous Olympics. The winner Edwin Moses, running in lane 4, had gradually switched from competing in the 110 meter-hurdles and the 400m-flat over just the previous six months of 1976. He won, on 25 July 1976, in a new world record of 47.63s! The Olympics had been Moses' first international meet! Akii-Bua's world record was gone! Edwin Moses remains the greatest hurdler of all time. His accolades (apart from his numerous sports awards and designations) include remaining unbeaten at the intermediate hurdles for nearly 10 years, setting his own world record four times (his best time being 47.03s in 1983), consecutively winning 122 races (including 107 consecutive finals), winning 2 Olympic gold medals, and being active in international competition for more than 15 years and into his mid-thirties! Unfortunately, Moses was never to race with Akii-Bua. The clash between the two at the 1976 Olympics had been eagerly anticipated, but it was never to happen! Akii-Bua was hardly active competitively in 1977. Governmental devotion of financial resources to supporting sports had dwindled in the Uganda military regime of Idi Amin that progressively devoted more resources to arms and ammunition and struggled with its image and potential liberators abroad. Rumors about the condition of Akii-Bua were rife. In a Nairobi article of 3rd March 1977 in 'The Age' entitled 'Akii-Bua Prison Claim 'Rubbish,'" Mrs. Joyce Akii-Bua flatly denies that her husband was arrested in Kampala, refuting the Kenyan "Daily Nation" that Akii had been locked up in Makindye Maximum Security Prison; she tells reporters: "These reports are complete rubbish. I don't know where they come from. My husband is fine and there is nothing to worry about." Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/4744986 Published: 07/27/2010 The world, during these volatile years in Uganda, only saw a glimpse of Akii-Bua. At the All-Africa Games held in Algiers in Algeria, from 13th-28th July in 1978, Akii was beaten in the 400mh finals by Kenya's Daniel Kimaiyo (49.48s), Akii ran in second (49.55s), and Peter Rwamuhanda (50.18s) of Uganda won the bronze medal. All three medallists, in the same event at the previous Africa Games Lagos 1973), had also been from the east African countries Kenya and Uganda (including Akii with his gold medal win)! These personals-best for Kimaiyo and Akii-Bua placed them as 7th and 10th in the world respectively. That top-10 ranking would be the first and last for Kimaiyo and the last for Akii-Bua.