The 1971 International Track-and-Field Meet at Edwards Stadium at the University of California, Berkeley: John Akii-Bua, Judith Ayaa, Steve Prefontaine, Pat Matdorf, and Others Perform

The US-USSR-World All-Stars Track and Field Meet took place on Saturday, July 3rd 1971, in Berkeley at the Edwards Stadium of University of California.

Very recently, on May 30th 1971, John Akii-Bua had commendably reduced the 400 meters-hurdles African record to 49.7 seconds in Kampala, and thereby gained a reasonably significant level of attention. But there was some skepticism about the timing and the track conditions, given that the event was contested on a somewhat unknown and unrecognized African track. Nevertheless, in Berkeley, 21 year-old policeman Akii was considered a major contender for the gold medal. The other two favorites were Wes Williams who was regarded as USA's top contenders, and Russia's Vyacheslav Skomorokhov. Williams had at the recent national AAU championships finished second in the 440 yards-hurdles  (which is four yards longer than the metric lap) in an impressive 49.3; while  Skomorokhov who finished fifth in the foregone 1968 Olympics had a 49.1 personal best in the intermediate hurdles.

Eventually, Akii-Bua of Uganda, representing  the World, won (50.1), second was University of Washington's Jim Seymour (USA) in 50.5, Roger Johnson (World) was third (50.9), Vyacheslav Skomorokhov (USSR) was fourth (50.9), fifth was Wes Williams (51.0) of USA, followed by Yuriy Zorin (USSR) in 53.3.

Akii-Bua's remarks are mentioned (AP 1971: 19).

"I have been practicing hurdles with both...right...and left leg. I think those who hurdle with only one leg aren't versatile enough.... I don't have any set plan to run so many steps in between the hurdles. I just go over them when I get there."

In the men's 4x400m relay the USA team (Edesel Garrison, Frederick Newhouse, Tommie Turner, Darwin Bond) triumphed (3:02.9); the World's team (Alfred Daley, John Akii-Bua, Laighton Priestley, Garth Case) was second (3:08.4); while the USSR team (Boris Savchuk, Yuriy Zorin, Dimitriy Stuklaov, Semyon Kocher) was last.

Judith Ayaa of Uganda, representing the World, participated in the women's 4x400m relay. This time, the USSR team won (3:36.0). The Soviet runners were Lyudmila Findgenova, Lyudmila Aksenova, Natalya Chistyakova, and Nadyezhda Kolesnikova.  Second an in 3:38.1 was the USA team (Esther Stroy, Gwen Norman, Cheryl Toussaint, and Jarvis Scott). Finishing third in 3:44.1 was the World all-Stars team of Ayaa, Penny Werther, Allison Ross-Edwards, and Yvonne Sanders.

Major highlights at the international track meet included the setting of a new world record in the high jump (7 feet, 6.25 inches) by University of Wisconsin's Pat Matzdorf (USA); and a new national record in the 5000m (13:30.4) by USA's Steve Prefontaine (University of Oregon).

Overall in points, the USA won, USSR was second, and the World All-Stars team was third.

Works Cited

AP (July 14, 1971) "For America-Russian Track Duel: U.S. Runners Weren't Ready," in "Odessa American."

Jonathan Musere

Uganda Commendably Performs at the 1973 All-Africa Games in Lagos, Nigeria

The second All Africa Games were held in Lagos in Nigeria in January 1973. The performance of Uganda still stands as overwhelmingly her best ever at these Africa Games. In the athletics realm, Uganda ended up with 6 gold medals, 2 bronze medals, and 4 bronze medals, placing Uganda fourth overall behind Kenya, Ghana, and Nigeria, respectively. The Uganda female athletes won four gold medals (Christine Anyakun [800 meters], Peace Kesiime [1500 meters], Constance Rwabiryagye [Javelin throw], and the 4 x 400 meters-relay) and two bronze medals (Budesia Nyakecho [100 meters-hurdles] and Christine Kabanda [long jump]. It was the women's performance that elevated Uganda's performance at the Games. The sole Uganda men's gold medals were won by John Akii-Bua (400 meters-hurdles) and Yovan Ochola (hammer). During the 1960's and 1970's era, likely because of educational and employment access, Uganda women were ahead of their neighboring Kenya women in the realm of sports.

Men:

-400 Meters-Hurdles. John Akii-Bua-Uganda Gold medal (48.54 seconds); William Koskei-Kenya Silver medal (50.22 seconds); Silver Ayoo-Uganda Bronze medal (50.25 seconds).

-Triple Jump. Mansour Dia-Senegal Gold medal (16.53 meters); Abraham Munabi-Uganda Silver medal (16.26 meters); Moise Pomaney-Ghana Bronze medal (16.09 meters).

-Hammer Throw. Yovan Ochola-Uganda Gold medal (50.64 meters); Gabriel Luzira-Uganda Silver medal (49.86 meters); Nagmeddin Shaheen-Egypt Bronze medal (47.58 meters).

-4 x 400 Meters Relay. Kenya Gold medal (3 minute, 6.38 seconds); Nigeria Silver medal (3 minutes, 6.98 seconds); Uganda Bronze medal (3 minutes, 7.21 seconds).

Women:

-800 Meters. Christine Anyakun-Uganda Gold medal (2 minutes, 9.5 seconds); Rosalind Joshua-Nigeria silver medal (2 minutes, 10.7 seconds); Helena Opoku-Ghana Bronze medal (2 minutes, 11.7 seconds).

1500 Meters. Peace Kesiime-Uganda Gold medal (4 minutes, 38.7 seconds); Mary Wagaki-Kenya Silver medal (4 minutes, 38.8 seconds); Ruth Yeboah-Ghana Bronze medal (4 minutes, 42.3 seconds).

100 Meters-Hurdles. Modupe Oshikoya-Nigeria Gold medal (14.28 seconds); Emilia Edet-Nigeria Silver medal (14.48 seconds); Budesia Nyakecho-Uganda Bronze medal (15.29 seconds).

Long Jump. Modupe Oshikoya-Nigeria Gold medal (6.16 meters); Margaret Odafin-Nigeria Silver medal (6.07 meters); Christine Kabanda-Uganda Bronze medal (5.73 meters).

Javelin Throw. Constance Rwabiryagye-Uganda Gold medal (47.50 meters); Lillian Cherotich-Kenya Silver medal (41.94 meters); Angelina Chekpiyeng-Kenya Bronze medal (39.12 meters).

4 x 400 Meters-Relay. Uganda Gold medal (3 minutes, 45.42 seconds); Nigeria Silver medal (3 minutes, 45.69 seconds); Kenya Bronze medal (3 minutes, 46.06 seconds).

Additional Uganda gold medal wins were in boxing: James Odwori and Daniel Omolo. Uganda, with an overall medal tally of 8 gold, 6 silver, and 6 bronze medals emerged fifth overall on the continent behind Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya, and Ghana, respectively. This was a milestone for Uganda. The nation has thereafter never got even remotely close to that performance at the All-Africa Games.

Jonathan Musere