{UAH} REMEMBERING JUDITH AYAA

Judith Ayaa was the trail-blazer for females athletes in Uganda, and together with John Akii-Bua, the two put Uganda on the world map as a sporting prowess. Both represented Uganda at the 1972 Munich Olympics where Judith reached the semi-finals in the sprints, setting an African record in the process, while John Akii-Bua won gold in the 400 metres hurdles. Unfortunately, the two died in  poverty and are largely forgotten today. There are efforts to revive their memories, in the case of Judith, as probably the greatest female athlete Uganda has produced. RIP JUDITIH AYAA, Athlete and Mother

Bobby

William Owor

2 hrs · 

#JudithAyaa(RIP)
#SprintChamp
#Olympian/CommonwealthAthlete
#Legend
#KochGomaNwoya

Judith Ayaa (RIP) was born on July 15, 1952 in Koch Goma Sub County in Nwoya district and was a trailblazer for Ugandan women athletes.

Ayaa, who worked for Uganda Prisons, had a successful, if short-lived four year career (1968-72) on the track.

At her peak, Ayaa achieved great success; her highest international attainment was bronze in the 400m at the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh in 1970, the first Ugandan woman to win a Commonwealth Games' medal.

She won gold in the 100 meters sprint in the East and Central African Athletic Championships in Dar-es-Salaam in 1968 with a winning time of 11.5 seconds.

In 1969 she was among the globally top-ranked. She excelled at the East and Central African Athletic Championships in Kampala, her home ground, winning the 100 meters (11.8secs), the 200 meters (25.0), and the 400m (53.6).

Ayaa attended the Olympics in 1972 in Munich, West Germany, with fellow legend John Akii-Bua (an eventual gold medalist and world record breaker) where she reached the semi-finals and broke the Africa record several times. She retired into family life thereafter.

Ayaa sadly suffered poverty in retirement and passed on in 1997, survived by at least four children.

A nursery school called Ayaa Foundation has been constructed in her village to educate orphans and vulnerable children.

Ayaa was an early legend of Uganda women's athletics. Trophies and national and regional competitions in northern Uganda have become commemorated in the name Judith Ayaa.
RIP Judith Ayaa. #Legend.
END

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