heartgarfunkel Posted August 10, 2008 Share Posted August 10, 2008 The John Akii Bua Story: An African Tragedy BBC2 Sun 10 Aug, 11:30 pm - 12:00 am 90mins At the Munich Olympics of 1972, John Akii Bua, from the impoverished African country of Uganda, powered round the inside lane in the 400m hurdles to win the gold medal. He had become the first African to win gold in an event under 800 metres, and was also the first to break the 48 seconds barrier in the event so gruelling its nickname is The Mankiller. After the glory of 1972, John never found prosperity in his country, beautiful but blighted by the Amin slaughter, tribal rivalries and poverty. Akii Bua's tribe, the Langi, were the primary victims of Amin's slaughter, and John's national popularity could only protect him for so long. In 1979, Akii Bua fled for his life to Kenya. In the trauma, his wife gave birth prematurely, and the baby died. The couple did not even have the money to bury him. Akii Bua presented his former coach Malcolm Arnold, with twelve foolscap notebooks containing Akii Bua's life story, which he held onto for more than twenty years. The contents of the notebooks chart John's life story from a remote village in northern Uganda, through his Olympic gold and tragedy, form the backbone of this film about the pinnacle of athletic achievement and the search to discover what followed. [AD,S] Subtitles Stereo Widescreen About the late uncle of our very own David Obua - gets a top billing in the Sunday Times TV preview for the week ahead. Could be worth a watch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felix Posted August 10, 2008 Share Posted August 10, 2008 Interesting post. Remember watching the 400m final and the emotion that followed - seem to recall he was one of the first, if not the first, to do a lap of honour at the olympics ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.