In the late 1960s and early 1970s, an excellent student at the prestigious and rigorous Medical School of the renowned Makerere University in Kampala established himself as one of the best African and Commonwealth of Nations triple jumpers. Abraham Kwadu Munabi, born December 19, 1940, was like the 1960 Ugandan champion sprinter Amos Omolo, apparently a late-life entrant in major sporting competitions. Munabi was the biggest name and medal hope in Ugandan field athletics during that time. The national record set by Munabi in the triple jump still stands four decades later.
But no, it’s not for his athletic achievements that most of the world has come to recognize Munabi. Dr. Munabi moved to the US in the late 1970’s for advanced studies, where he was involved in specialized reproductive experimentation and research. In the space of more than thirty years, Munabi’s name has appeared in a number of research papers. Munabi is recognized as a fertility expert, reproductive endocrinologist. A board-certified gynecologist, Munabi founded and is director of the Suburb Philadelphia Institute for Reproductive Sciences in Pennsylvania.
Munabi jumped to a personal best of 16.11 m and a national triple jump record in September 1969. Here Munabi won gold in the triple jump at the East and Central African Regional Games. The annual Games were held in the capital, Kampala, in Munabi’s native Uganda. Munabi’s victory in the 16.11m jump far outpaced the competition. At the same tournament, Munabi won gold in the long jump with 7.24 m. Munabi would go on to win triple jump gold again at these 1972 regional Games, held in the Tanzanian capital, Dar-es-Salaam. The winning length was 15.40 m.
The next major international sporting gathering for Munabi would be the 1970 Commonwealth of Nation Games which were held in Edinburgh, Scotland. On July 24, twenty-eight international competitors would vault, vault, and vault interchangeably in the qualification round for the finals to be held the following day. Munabi, with a jump of 15.51 meters, placed ninth out of the thirteen finalists. The top five finishers were Australia’s Mile McGrath (16.09m), Nigeria’s Samuel Igun (16.08m), India’s Mohinder Singh Gill (15.90m), Australia’s Phil May (15.87m) and Tony Wadhams of England (15.80 m). Despite his ninth place in the standings, Abe felt he would skillfully win a medal for Uganda. The final saw Phil Gray (Australia), with a length of 16.72m, take gold; Mike McGrath (16.41m), also from Australia, took silver; and Mohinder Singh (India) was third after a jump of 15.90m. Uganda’s Abraham Munabi placed, not too disappointingly, fourth (15.73m).
These 1970 Commonwealth of Nations Games saw the rise of Uganda, with an impressive collection of medals, becoming the Commonwealth boxing champions. Boxing gold medals were won by Mohamed Muruli (light welterweight), James Odwori (light flyweight) and Benson Masanda (heavyweight); and the silver medals were won by flyweight Leo Rwabwogo and lightweight Deogratias Musoke. In athletics, Ugandans William Koskei (400m hurdles silver medal) and Judith Ayaa (400m bronze medal) were the winners. John Akii-Bua (400m hurdles), 20, was like Munabi, beaten to fourth.
At the 1972 Olympic Games held in Munich, the 31-year-old Munabi (of the 6 male and 2 female athletes competing) was the oldest entrant from Uganda. At 5’11 (180 cm), Munabi weighed a relatively 154 pounds (70 kg). There were 36 internationals for the triple jump competition that took place from September 3 to 4. Munabi finished with a rather mediocre best length of 15.82m and she placed 22nd overall. Munabi’s foul in the Third Round halted her progress. For convenience, Munabi had gained a third of the field. The Olympic medal winners were, respectively, Viktor Saneyev of the Soviet Union, Jorg Drehmel of East Germany, and Nelson Prudencio of Brazil.
Munabi was determined to win gold at the next Pan-African Games to be held in August 1973. Munabi was beaten into second place by Senegal’s Mansour Mamadou Dia. But of importance Munabi had jumped 16.26 meters three times, a national record that stands to this day. Gold medalist Mansour Dia had jumped 16.53 metres, while Ghana’s bronze medalist Moise Pomaney had jumped 16.09 metres. Dia also won a bronze medal in the long jump at these African Games. Furthermore, Mansour Dia had not only represented Senegal at the previous three Olympic Games, but had also achieved the personal best and national record at the previous Olympic Games in 1972 (16.77 m), a national record that would stand. for more than 3.5 decades. At the Olympics, Dia, who is only a week younger than Munabi, was ranked 13th overall in 1964, 8th in 1968, and 6th in 1972.
Uganda’s overall performance at the African Games was excellent, with boxers and athletes winning an impressive number of medals that Uganda has never come close to winning at the African Games since the 1973 performance (8 gold, 6 silver, 6 bronze). Uganda was sixth overall. The following year, Munabi would have competed for Uganda at the Commonwealth Games which were held in Christchurch, New Zealand. One of his impediments was the difficult final exams he had to attend in his Medicine program at Makerere University.
Munabi finished sixth in the triple jump at the 1976 Montreal pre-Olympic meet. Joshua Owusu (also a Commonwealth of Nations Games champion) from Ghana won gold here. In the magazine “Africa” (1976: 142) Munabi, now 34, is described as having little hope of winning an Olympic medal for Africa, but as a great inspiration for the future of field athletics in Uganda. In fact, at the time, it was Munabi who was the biggest success of Ugandan field athletics. In the same pre-Olympic match, Ugandan boxer Mustapha Wasajja, later to turn professional and one of the best boxers in the world, won Uganda’s only gold. Unfortunately, Uganda, like many other countries, boycotted and withdrew from the soon-to-be Montreal Olympics.
The tradition of sporting and academic excellence prevails in the Munabi family. Son Tunji Adrian Munabi was a student and all-around athlete at the prestigious Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. Tunji was one of the top scorers for the Stanford Cardinals, also a triple jump and long jump champion. But the son hasn’t broken the family records for the triple jump and long jump set by his father. Naikhoba, another excellent student and athlete, Tunji’s sister, recently joined Stanford and competes in the triple jump.
As for Uganda, recent praise and hope in triple jump competition comes from Sarah Nambawa (track and field athlete) who in recent years became African triple jump champion (Nairobi, August 2010), established a Ugandan record (13.95 m), and placed fifth at the 2010 Commonwealth Games which were held in New Delhi. Earlier, at the 2010 IAAF/VTB Bank Continental Cup held in Split, Croatia in early September 2010 against some imposing international competition, Uganda’s Nambawa finished sixth with her jump of 13.78m. Additionally, previously competing for Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, in June 2010, Nambawa’s 13.66m jump at the NCAA Outdoor Championships held in Eugene, Oregon placed her in second place overall.
There is plenty of room for Nambawa to cleverly displace “Abe” as Uganda’s best triple jumper. Nambawa is undoubtedly the most appropriate athlete to revive our memories of Abraham Munabi’s sporting achievements.