John Akii-Bua

John Akii-Bua, December 3, 1949 - June, 1997, was a Ugandan Olympic champion who won the 400m hurdles at the Munich Olympic games in 1972. As of 2008, he remains the only Olympic gold medal winner from that nation.

Akii-bua was one of the 43 children sired by his father, a prominent chief from the Lango tribe of northern Uganda who had eight wives. He had a comfortable upbringing, but no one could have expected him to reach international stardom in track and field competition.

Akii-Bua started as a sprint hurdler but failed to qualify for the 1968 Summer Olympics and did not improve much more over the next two years. His coach Malcom Arnold suggested he attempt the 400 meter hurdles and despite being a novice he managed to qualify for the 1970 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh and finished fourth in the final. Despite running some fast times during 1971, in Munich the favoured athletes included David Hemery of Britain, the world record-holder and defending Olympic champion and Ralph Mann, an American and the number one ranked 400 m hurdler from 1971. To the surprise of almost everyone he won the race a full six metres ahead of Mann, breaking the world record and becoming the first to break 48 seconds. This was an astounding achievement given he had drawn lane one in the final, considered a disadvantage due to the tighter turns. Due to the African boycot of the 1976 Summer Olympics he could not defend his title, although he did return to the Olympic arena in 1980 but failed to move on from his semi-final.

Today, at least one school and one street are named for Akii-Bua. His name has entered the local parlance; in Ugandan English “to Akii-Bua” means to hurry or to run fast (“I was late, so I Akii-Bua’d”).

A forthcoming documentary by the BBC called "Looking for John" is due to air in time for the Bejing Olympics. The documentary is to be based on diaries that Akii-Bua had given to Malcom Arnold in 1981.