John Akii-Bua: presence of Jerom Ochana as hurdles champion, mentor and coach
Home-Training and School
John Akii was born in the Lira district of northern Uganda to the Abako chief, Rwot Yusef Lusepu Bua, in the Lango region. Akii-Bua was born into a polygamous family, his father had several wives and Akii would eventually have as many as fifty siblings. The family was semi-nomadic in social structure, Akii herding and protecting livestock from predators such as lions. This mode of existence inevitably required efficient herders to be fast, strong and stamina, and to be daring and instinctively quick to react to danger and prevent herds from wandering off to be killed and eaten by predators. Many of Africa’s best athletes come from semi-nomadic and herding families. For Akii, this family background informally shaped his athletic abilities.
John Akii-Bua studied at Abako Primary School, then in 1964 he enrolled in secondary school at Aloi Ongom Secondary School in Aloi County (Robert Mugagga in ‘Akii-Bua: The Chief’s Son Who Became King Athletics’ in “Daily Monitor”: July 1, 2012). Akii’s stage in secondary education ended the same year as a result of the death of his father, Lusepu Bua, which reduced the family’s ability to pay school fees. The loss also reinforced Akii-Bua’s need to help and contribute materially to his extended family. His duties included working in the family’s small general retail store.
Akii hoped for more lucrative opportunities and, at 16, traveled south to the Ugandan capital, Kampala, to be recruited into the national police force. At this stage, Akii’s potential for athletic greatness was unremarkable. His competition in sports had not been significant and his presence at school had been very brief.
Initial Training: Police Recruitment and African Hurdles Record Holder, Jerom Ochana
John Akii-Bua began competing when he was recruited by the Ugandan police in Nsambya, near Kampala, hundreds of miles south of his family’s home. This formal window into John Akii-Bua’s athletic potential was initially formed by the police drill that routinely began at 5:30 a.m. with physical training and a three-mile cross-country run. Akii’s stretch flexibility was notable, the cause of his selection in obstacles. Jerom (Jerome, Jorem?) Ochana, a high-ranking police officer who was also a Ugandan police athletics coach and African record holder for the 440-yard hurdles, was conveniently there to train Akii. One of the training tests involved Ochana placing a high jump bar a couple of feet above the hurdle so Akii would learn to keep her head and body low.
Akii recounts the ordeal to Kenny Moore: “Can you see this scar on my forehead? Ochana… made me listen. I used to bleed a lot in our drills, hitting the fences with my knees and ankles, keeping my head gacha.” (“Sports Illustrated”: ‘A Play of Light’, November 20, 1972). Police training and the convenient presence as a trainer of champion steeplechase Jerom Ochana were probably the most important foundation for Akii’s path to any future sporting glory. It was also significant that Ochana, like Akii-Bua, belonged to the Luo language and cultural groups of northern Uganda and beyond. This made communication between the coach and the promising athlete much easier.
Regarding athletic credentials, Ochana had won in early November 1962 the 440-yard hurdles in 52.3 seconds at a track meet in Colombo, Ceylon. This was a set-up for the upcoming British Empire Commonwealth Games to be held during the last week of November in Pert, Australia. Unfortunately, in Perth, Ochana did not finish the race in the second of two heats in the single round that would determine the final six in the 440-yard hurdles. However, another prominent Ugandan athlete, Benson Ishiepai, who had won the first heat (52.0) would go on to the final and win bronze (52.3), behind Ken Roche (51.5) from Australia and the Kenyan Kimaru Songok (51.9). Kimaru Songok is still recognized in Kenya as one of the early pioneering and powerful athletic legends.
In 1964, Jerom Ochana won the 440-yard hurdles at the Central and East African Championships in Kisumu, Kenya, in an impressive 50.8 seconds. Ochana was in Tokyo for the Olympics, this time in the 400 meter hurdles. On October 14, the 29-year-old Ochana was placed to run in the third of five first-round heats that allowed the top three and next fastest finishers to advance to the semifinal round. Ochana was eliminated when he finished fourth in 52.4 seconds. In the end, Ochana achieved 19th place in the general classification in the 400 mh at the Tokyo Olympics. Ochana’s personal best (50.5) in the 440-yard hurdles was achieved in 1964.
Malcolm Arnold and George Odeke
John Akii-Bua, shortly after winning four police championships in 1967, became significantly recognized and was thereafter placed under the command of Britain’s Malcolm Arnold, the new national coach. Malcolm Arnold is mistakenly considered to be the one who introduced Akii to the steeplechase. Evidently, Akii’s main influence may well have been Jerom Ochana, who unfortunately has been largely forgotten and little mentioned in the literature. And Akii showed early in his running career that he was a complete athlete.
Akii, would hold for a couple of decades the Ugandan decathlon record of 6933 points set in 1971 in Kampala. Beginning in the mid-1970s, less and less attention and resources were devoted to the development of field events in Uganda. The presence of decathlon athletes from Uganda decreased.
Akii was victorious in the 110m hurdles finals at the Central and East African Championships (an annual event that originally involved mainly track and field stars from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia) held in Kampala in 1969. With the influence From trainer Malcolm Arnold, Akii-Bua became convinced that he would reap more rewards as a 400-meter hurdles runner. In the 400mh final at the Commonwealth Games (Edinburgh, Scotland, July 16-25, 1970), Akii-Bua struggled with a back strain and hernia, he was in last place in the last 100 meters, but still ran fast to come. him in fourth place in 51.14 seconds. John Sherwood (England) was the gold medalist (50.03), Uganda’s Bill (William) Koskei (but will soon return and compete for his native Kenya) second (50.15) and Kipkemboi Charles Yego of Kenya third (50.19).
Arnold would train Akii to be more skilled and consistent at the time of obstacles. Additionally, in preparation for the Olympics, Akii, while wearing a weighted vest, performed a test regimen of short- and middle-distance running repetitions with the hurdles mounted inches higher than the conventional length. Akii, also just before the 1972 Munich Olympics, where he won gold while running in the narrow lane and lowered the world record to 47.82 seconds, would move to southwestern Uganda, where he would train high-altitude cross-country. in often torrential rain conditions. Even after decades, coaches and hurdlers look back on Akii’s unique training regimen with wonder and interest. Malcolm Arnold’s training period with the Ugandan national team (3-4 years) would end shortly after the Munich Olympics. Thereafter, former Ugandan sprinter and now assistant coach George Odeke took over as national coach.
conclusion
Malcolm Arnold has retained most of the credit for coaching and propelling Akii-Bua to Olympic gold. With this practice and resume he went on to successfully train renowned hurdlers from Great Britain. Arnold had focused intensely on Akii-Bua as he was Uganda’s top athlete at the time and the hope for an Olympic medal. Akii-Bua must have greatly influenced Arnold’s approach to obstacles. But did Arnold make Akii great, or did Akii make Arnold great? Maybe it’s a chicken and egg question. Both coach and student contributed to each other’s greatness. But homegrown Ugandan Jerom Ochana was the first and foremost driving force and mentor that Akii-Bua would credit with making him a winning hurdler.
Regarding some of the levels, Akii was absent from the top 10 of the 1970 all-time world rankings. But in 1971 he was third after Ralph Mann (USA) and Jean-Claude Nallet (France). In 1972 and 1973, Akii’s major world performances placed Akii comfortably at No. 1. Akii was not as active and prominent in 1974, missing the Commonwealth Games and ranked No. 8. He resurfaced at No. 2 in 1975 , behind Alan Pascoe (Great Britain) and ahead of Jim Bolding and Ralph Mann, both from the USA.
Works Cited
Moore, Kenny (November 20, 1972). “A Play of Lights,” in “Sports Illustrated.”
Mugagga, Robert (July 1, 2012). “Akii-Bua: The Boss’s Son Who Became the King of Athletics,” on “Daily Monitor.”