FORMER OLYMPIC 400 metres hurdles champion John Akii-Bua has died in Kampala, it was announced yesterday.

The 47-year-old Ugandan, who won the gold in the Munich Games in 1972, had reportedly been ill for some time. One of 43 children, he was one of the world's greatest ever hurdlers.

When he won the gold in Munich, he clocked 47.82 to take a phenomenal 0.3 seconds off the record set by David Hemery four years earlier at high altitude.

Akii-Bua's hopes of getting a second Olympic gold were dashed by the African boycott of the 1976 Games, where his record was broken by American Edwin Moses.

At the time of his death, Akii-Bua was interim assistant commissioner of police in charge of welfare and community affairs in the force.