The John Akii-Bua Story: An African Tragedy
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The John Akii-Bua Story: An African Tragedy is a Documentary programme.
 Picture: BBC/Verymuchso/PA Photos Next Show TimesYou may also like
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i saw it an hour ago it was amzing and emotionally moving just shows how unfair life is. and the missed opportunities he faced. amazing everyone should watch it
Whoever watched the program should noy complain about life's hardship. This man's life has inspired me more. He died so young, what a tragedy indeed. I trust his children can embark on a mission to help bring peace and order to the african people.
Mr P
Simply brilliant! Is it possible to get a copy of the film or that it will be re-broadcast? Why is it unavailable via the BBC's 7-day player?
All the best to all who contributed to such a fine piece of work, and special thanks for using so much of John's own words.
Fantastic! Very moving especially in this climate of Olympic Games mania. It was such an appropriate billing; especially as it put Uganda back on the map after the film The Last King of Scotland. I am Ugandan/British and it moved me to tears that yes, we had produced an athletic prodigy and we are talented and we are good people...
I would like to send a comment to the Producer of the programme at the BBC.
Many thanks
Rovianne
Totally engrossing & rivetting documentary on Akii-bua's life by the BBC. As a 20 yr old at the time of John's triumph at Munich,I was naturally sorely disappointed that my 'hero' Hemery had been beaten & his world record expunged but in the light of history now I am so glad that John achieved what he did to put his little nation on the map. Nowhere can I seem to find what John actually died of; I mean,at 47 years having been a one time athlete I wouldnt have expected him to keel over so soon. Anyone have the answer,please ??
So moving and brilliantly done. One can't help but feel so much emotion whilst watching the programme - from the highs of Akii-Bua winning the gold to the absolute horror of his attempt to escape to freedom.
I am proud and pleased to know the history of such a remarkable man.
I missed the John Akil-Bua story and would like to see it, where can I see it?
regards,
Mina Semyon
Very moving story indeed.Such a shame that he is remembered after he has gone.
Hi D.Neve,
akii-bua tragically died of HIV/AIDS related diesease which unfortunately has taken it toll on so many people from my beloved country UGANDA!!.. His Nephew David Obua has just signed for hearts FC in the scottish football league and he has a stricking resembleness to his uncle the late john Akii-bua.
Could you please advice me where i can either download this film?
l watched the story of akii bua on bbc2 last week and l was shocked and thrilled.propably akii was the greatest athlete to come out of africa and moreso black race.he trained with nothing,come to the sport at his late teens,completed with pure raw power and completed only with himself and became world record holder and olymipic champion in munich.l came from nigeria and also l was a former colligiate athlete,l knew how was hard it could be to train and focus in Africa. what l can only add that his enviroment after the 1973 greatly affected his life.l have few friends who are world beaters back in NIGERIA,only if the film can be show over there to motivate and correct them.Akii Bua should be remembered by all black sportmen .
the documentary was well presented. It is good to know that he is still remembered.
I was touched when i saw how hard he trained but the he was rewarded in the end.
John Akii-Bua gave us all in Uganda and East Africa the realisation that our destiny was ours to determine. The era in which his extraordinary achievement was engineered was probably Uganda's most profound. As the documentary shows, his cousin Denis Obua was also a football star in The Cranes of Uganda. Our educational system and international engagement with cultural and sports events reflected then a national confidence that defied our increasingly unhappy loss of democracy as one man, Apollo Milton Obote, dominated the scene. Unlike Amin, Obote mixed a cunning and ruthless control with a decent and practical sense of management of our national and human resources, hence the involvement of such men and women as Malcolm Arnold. Akii-Bua's return to Uganda from Munich with Gold in 1972 was also the period in which Uganda started a general decline over which Idi Amin presided. The increasing fortunes of African children and teenagers in the field of athletics experienced a drastic loss of support. Amin was too "acerebral" to see beyond his own personal material success and survival so appropriated everything and killed as many people as he could to ensure that he prevailed. Thus, the tarnishing of Akii-Bua's gold medal in what writer Henry Kyemba called "State of Blood" in the title of his book paralleled Uganda's loss of a superb and irreplaceable legacy not just in culture and sports but also in the finest national attributes that had defined our vision for the future. Today, Uganda is a country in which many hark back to the era of Akii-Bua's Munich success in the hope that it will revive something for the future. However, today Uganda has around its neck a yoke of the self-importance of a leadership that is little better than that of Robert Mugabe and fast leading to the same consequences for the country as those that have befallen Zimbabwe. The memory of John Akii-Bua is a reminder that we in Africa shall not see the return of our old post-colonial glory until we have shed the armour-plated dinosaurs who drool over our national wealth and legacies and usurp our democratic rights, and our voice and choice.
I would very much like to obtain this on DVD or a book as I missed the programm. As a child I spent many years in Uganda and I would find it very interesting
I will say i missed the documentary, how can i get to see it, please.
Its interesting to watch and hear the Story of Akii.
My question though is why does Malcom Arnold come out now to praise John......where was he when John needed help to clear hospital bills and pay for education.
where are those children todate and how is he hepling them,seeing as John made a name for Malcom.
shame when you reap from a dead man....shame.
Long Live Akii-Bua long live Akii-bua