Judith Ayaa was born on July 15, 1952, in Koch Goma sub-county in the Nwoya district of Uganda. During an era when African women’s participation in athletics was in its predominantly nascent and amateur stages, young Ayaa became a resounding name among African track stars. Ayaa became the first Ugandan woman to win a medal at the Commonwealth Games. Three Ugandan Commonwealth Games women’s medalists followed in her footsteps: Ruth Kyalisiima (Kyarisiima/ Kyalisima) in Brisbane in 1982, where she won silver in the 400m hurdles (57.10), gold medalist Dorcus Inzikuru in the 3000m steeplechase in Melbourne in 2006 in which he set a Games record (9:19.51), and bronze medalist Winnie Nanyondo, who was third in the 800m (2:01.38) in Glasgow in 2012.
Judith Ayaa’s career on the track would be short-lived, though significant.
Judith Ayaa’s record at the East and Central African Athletics Championships is astounding. In 1968 (Dar-es-Salaam), Ayaa won gold in the 100 meter dash, finishing in 11.5. The following year, in mid-August 1969, Ayaa consolidated and confirmed her formidable triumph at the same championships (Kampala) by winning the 100m (11.8), 200m (25.0) and 400m. (53.6). Jane Chikambwe, considered a Zambian athletics legend, won silver behind Ayaa in the 100m and 200m. Here in Kampala in 1969, Ayaa was part of the Ugandan 4x100m relay team which won in 49.5. In the same year, based on her personal best time of 53.6, Judith Ayaa was ranked in the top 10 400m runners in the world.
In 1970 at the same ACE Championship (Nairobi), Judith Ayaa was not far behind. The slender young woman with “Mercedes-Benz” bodywork won again in the 100 m (11.8), 200 m (24.1) and 400 m (54.0 s).
It was at the Commonwealth Games held in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1970 that Judith Ayaa established herself as an international female athlete to be reckoned with. In these Games Judith Ayaa competed prominently in the 100m and 400m. On July 17, Ayaa was placed in the first of five 100m preliminary heats. She performed reasonably well, finishing second behind Australia’s Jenny Lamy in 11.92 seconds. But the semifinals, the next day, were not so fruitful for Ayaa. She was placed in the second of two semi-final heats, and was defeated in sixth place (11.93) and eliminated from advancing to the final. The finals, later that day, were won by Raelene Boyle of Australia, followed by the legendary Alice Annum of Ghana and then Marion Hoffman of Australia for the bronze medal.
There were far fewer competitors in the 400m, so there would only be two rounds of competition. On July 22, Ayaa was placed in the second of two first round qualifiers. Ayaa won in a relatively staggering time of 52.86 seconds, a new Ugandan and African record. Ayaa’s finishing time ranked her 11th in the world in 1970. Alice Annum, who was scheduled to compete in the same round, did not start.
Ayaa advanced to the final to be played the next day. But maybe she had run too fast instead of running easy, but enough to be in the top four of each round that he would automatically qualify for the finals. Australia’s Sandra Brown was second and a full second behind Ayaa. The other series of semifinals in which she won Marilyn Neufville in 53.05, was more relaxed and tactful.
The next day’s final saw diminutive but legendary 17-year-old Jamaican Marilyn Fay Neufville win with a world record of 51.02. Neufville won by a staggering gap of more than two seconds ahead of silver medalist Sandra Brown (53.66) of Australia; she cut the previous world record of 51.7 set (1969) by Colette Besson and Nicole Duclos, both from France, by almost a second. Judith Ayaa, overtaken after slowing down near the end of the race, likely due to fatigue after her unnecessary exertion in the semifinals, was third (53.77) in a photo finish behind Sandra Brown and captured the medal for bronze. Fatigue had probably cost him at least the silver medal; but Commonwealth bronze would be one of Ayaa’s most acclaimed international possessions!
Marilyn Neufville’s terrific career would be short-lived due to physical injuries and inconsequential surgery. At the 1974 Commonwealth Games held in Christchurch, New Zealand, Neufville was sixth in the 400m final. And at the 1976 Olympic Games held in Montreal in Canada, she participated in the first round of the 400 m and she qualified for the next round, but did not advance to the next round due to injuries.
The next major event for Ayaa would be July 16-17, 1971 at Duke University’s Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, North Carolina. It was the USA vs. Africa and the Rest of the World meeting (sometimes called the USA-Africa track meet). The event that drew a large capacity crowd of 52,000 total spectators was a unified African team along with other nations (fourteen nations in total) against Team USA. Perhaps the main attraction was the Olympic gold medalist 1500m Kipchoge Keino, revered and renowned for his on-track rivalry with American middle-distance legend and 1500m world record holder (3:33.1) Jim Ryun. Here at Duke, Keino intended to break this world record.
Other internationally acclaimed runners in the competition included Kenyan Amos Biwott (Olympic steeplechase champion) and Tunisian long-distance legend Mohammed Gammoudi. Ugandan hurdler John Akii-Bua from Uganda, who was barely known internationally, was also there to compete.
Judith Ayaa won the gold medal at these USA-Pan Africa Games with 54.69. Second was Gwendolyn Norman (USA) of Sports International with 55.42, third was Jarvis Scott (USA) of Los Angeles Mercurettes with 56.0 and fourth was Titi Adeleke (Nigeria) with 59, 52. John Akii-Bua won the intermediate hurdles, setting an African record (49.0) that would be the world’s best time for 1971. The smooth sailing “flying policeman” Akii became a contender for the next Olympics in 1972 in Munich. Simultaneously, Ayaa gained international recognition though not to the level of Akii. Kip Keino failed to break the world record in the 1500m, but he clearly led the way and finished with an excellent time of 3:34.7.
John Myers relays the comments of Akii-Bua, here sometimes referred to as “John Akii-Buba” (1971: 6A): “The runners were good…The track is fast. It wasn’t uncomfortable.”
Other notable competitors in the track and field competition included Americans Rodney Milburn and Ron Draper (high hurdles), Kenyans Robert Ouko (800m) and Benjamin Jipcho (hurdles); Steve Prefontaine (USA) and Miruts Yifter (Ethiopia) in the 5000m, and John Smith (USA) in the 400m.
As late as 1971, at the Central and East African Championships held in Lusaka, Zambia, Ayaa was the winner in the 400 m (54.7). She was also part of the Ugandan gold medal winning teams in the relays: 4x100m (48.7) and 4x400m (3:50.5).
Ayaa’s next big challenge, the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany, would prove interesting. In the first round, Ayaa in lane two placed fourth (52.85s), thus qualifying for the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, Judith Ayaa placed in lane 7 in her heat two of four heats. The top four finishers in each heat would advance to the semi-final. Ayaa finished comfortably in third place and set a Ugandan and African record of 52.68. The Ugandan record, Ayaa’s personal best, would stand for more than three decades. Of note, in these quarterfinals, Ayaa beat 26-year-old Colette Besson of France, the surprise diminutive winner in the same event at the previous Olympics (1968) in Mexico City. Besson was in lane 3 and her fifth place disqualified her from advancing to the next round.
Ayaa went on to the semi-finals of the Olympics. She was in lane 2 and finished in 52.91 seconds, a seventh place finish. Ayaa had put in quite a commendable performance, but the international competition was formidable and she Ayaa was eliminated in what would be her first and last Olympic competition. The eighth competitor, Christel Frese from West Germany, fell during the race and did not finish.
In 1972, Ayaa became a four-time gold medalist in the 400 m at the Central and East African Championships. This time, in Dar-es-Salaam, Ayaa’s winning time was 55.7. She was part of the Ugandan team that won the gold medal in the 4x100m (48.7).
After 1972, Ayaa’s performance record would turn lackluster. She married and began to have children in close succession, and neglected sports. Amin’s tumultuous regime made the situation worse. Athletes were far less financially compensated for their effort and injuries than they have been increasingly in recent decades. Ayaa’s death was far from glamorous; he was disheartening. Sometime later in her life, while caring for her two young children, Ayaa struggled and sometimes begged on the streets of Kampala. He would crush stones for a living. Akii-Bua, also a national teammate with Ayaa at the 1972 Olympics, would be instrumental in drawing attention to and intervening in Ayaa’s plight. She was tracked down and a European benefactor helped with her expenses. Unfortunately, in 2002 Ayaa would die young at the age of 48 or 49, in the Mulago Hospital in Kampala. Ironically, Akii-Bua, who was also not doing well at the time, had died around the same age as Ayaa, in early 1997 in the same hospital.
Ayaa’s reign on the women’s court was brief but excellent and long-lasting. National and regional trophies and competitions in Northern Uganda are commemorated in Judith Ayaa’s name.
Works Cited
Myers, John. “Host with Winning Score at Pan Africa Meet” in “Carolina Times” (July 24, 1971).