John Akii-Bua: Africa Hurdles World Record Attempt and Stanley Road Renaming
John Akii-Bua of Uganda was promoted by dictator Idi Amin Dada to Assistant 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 for the dictator as “Akii-Bua Road”. This was just a few months after Akii had lowered the 400m hurdles world record to 47.82 seconds at the Munich Olympics in early September 1972. Among many other things, Henry Stanley is famous for extolling Uganda as the “Pearl of Africa”. In fact, Henry Stanley often stated or implied that he was the first to attach the term to Uganda.
“… ‘Pearl of Africa’… I applied that… term to Uganda… Many… travelers… explain the term by educating about 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 civilizing and trading nation. like ours [England](Stanley 1895: 719-720).
In January 1973, 23-year-old Akii-Bua, fresh out of Munich and still much celebrated nationally, was now in Nigeria in front of an excited capacity crowd ready to witness the performance of the first African to win and establish himself. a world record in such a technical and grueling event. VIPs attending the athletics event included the President of Nigeria, General Yakubu Gowon. The 400 meter hurdles which requires speed, timing and jumping is still known as the “man killer”.
On January 11 in Lagos at the Second African Games, in a 400mh semi-final heat, a relaxed Akii took his time and still won in 50.7. He was very sure that, despite the absence of the best world-class competitors he had faced at the Olympics, he would have broken his own world record if he had given him the effort and technique. He commented: “I ran six hurdles in a 13-stride pattern and then cut back 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 claim that he had learned a great deal about technique and perfect timing of the hurdles from his encouraging friend and ace hurdler David (Dave) Hemery of Great Britain, regarded as one of the greatest hurdlers of all time. . In 1968 at the Mexico City Olympics, Hemery set a world record (48.12) in the 400 mph final. Hemery finished nearly a second ahead of West Germany’s silver medalist Gerhard Hennige. Hemery was third at the Munich Olympics. In Lagos, Akii also recounted that he was attacked by malaria six months before the Munich Olympic Games (AAP-Reuters: 1973).
The lineup for the 400mh final in Lagos notably included William (Bill) Koskei of Kenya, who as an immigrant had competed for Uganda and won a silver medal in the event at the 1970 Commonwealth Games held in Edinburgh. Akii was fourth then. But in 1971 in Durham, North Carolina, in a match between the USA and Africa, Akii beat Koskei and others to set a world leading time of 49 seconds. It was then that the world of athletics took notice of Akii-Bua, a seemingly relaxed and agile hurdler, as one of the main contenders for gold at the upcoming Munich Olympics. Koskei was also considered an Olympic medal hope, but in Munich he would finish fourth in the first round heat and thus be knocked out. Akii, on the other hand, won all three of her heats, including the finals in which she set a world record.
Unlike at the Munich Olympics, where Akii was drawn into the disadvantageous innermost “narrow” lanes, at the Lagos final, he was placed in a middle lane, which is easier to navigate. The gun went off in Lagos and Akii quickly blew up. He seemed to relax a bit and slow down after the last corner, and then all of a sudden he picked up speed. Days later, Akii would comment that he did, in fact, slow down, but when he looked up into the stands at the jubilant and colorfully uniformed dignitaries that included 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 astonishing 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 in the 400 mh in 1973, and remains one of the best ever run on African soil. Nearly two seconds behind, William Koskei was second (50.22) in a photo-finish with Uganda’s Silver Ayoo (50.25), who won the bronze medal.
Overall, Uganda was fourth at the All African Games in Lagos, and that nation-wide medal-winning performance (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, putting Uganda fourth overall behind Egypt, Nigeria, and Kenya respectively.
Works Cited
AAP-Reuters. “Uganda Plans Attempt on World Time”. Canberra Times. January 12, 1973.
Stanley, HM “Uganda Railway”. Saturday magazine of politics, literature, science and art. Flight. 79 (1895): 719-720.