Julian Drew
NEXT week=D5s All Africa Games in Harare will be only the sixth edition of=
this Pan African equivalentof the Olympic Games which were first staged=20 in the Congolese capital of Brazzaville in 1965, but although their entry=
into the annals of sporting history is relatively recent, the idea behind t=
is not. In fact it was the father of the modern Olympic movement, Baron Pierre de=
Coubertin, who first contemplated the notion of an African version of the=
Olympic Games in the early part of this century. He put the wheels in motion at the International Olympic Committee=D5s=20 (IOC) session in Rome in 1923 by forming a commission to investigate the=20 feasibility of an African games. This commission subsequently awarded=20 Algiers the auspicious task of organising the first games for 1925, but the=
French governor of Algeria met with strong resistance to the proposal and=
they were transferred to Alexandria in Egypt to take place in 1928. =20 Egypt=D5s King Fouad gave his full support to the project and under the=20 direction of the Crown Prince Abbas Ibrahim Ali a superb stadium was=20 built on the site of the old Olympic stadium from the Ptolemaic dynasty=20 when Cleopatra ruled over Egypt. The magnificent stadium with its Greco- Roman architecture reflecting the origins of Olympism was said to be=20 among the best in the world and although its lengthy construction saw the=
games moved to April 1929, Africa was ready to demonstrate its sporting=20 prowess to the world. But then disagreements among the colonial powers and fears that the=20 Games might give momentum to the emerging independence movements=20 on the continent saw the Egyptians=D5 elaborate preparations come to nothin=
and the Games were cancelled at the last minute. This asp bite to Africa=D5=
sporting aspirations was only finally overcome when the shackles of=20 colonialism began to fall away in the early 1960s and the newly=20 independent nations began to think once more of a sporting spectacle to=20 unite the continent.=20 The Francophone countries staged the Friendship Games in 1961 in=20 Abidjan and at the following games in Dakar in 1963, a meeting of=20 ministers of youth and sport decided to expand the Friendship Games into=20 the All African Games which were awarded to Brazzaville for 1965. A year=20 after those first All Africa Games the Supreme Council for Sport in Africa=
(SCSA) was founded in Bamako, Mali and it took over the responsibility=20 for organising the Games which were then awarded to Bamako for 1969. =20 In the interim the Malian government of Modibo Keita was overthrown and=20 the new military rulers were unwilling to foot the bill for the Games. They=
were therefore awarded to Lagos, Nigeria for 1971. Those Games too were=20 postponed because of the Biafran civil war in Nigeria and they eventually=
took place in 1973. The next Games were in Algiers in 1978 and the=20 SCSA decided that as this was exactly in the middle of the Olympic cycle=20 it would continue with this arrangement on a four-yearly basis. However,=20 when the Kenyan hosts for 1982 were unable to prepare in time there was=20 no alternative but to wait until they were ready and that wasn=D5t until 19=
Finally, when the Games were awarded to Egypt for 1991, 62 years after=20 they were first scheduled to be held there, the Games actually took place o=
time in Cairo. Next week that trend will continue in Harare. While the Games have now developed a reputation for failing to attract=20 Africa=D5s top stars, particularly in athletics in 1991 which is a trend th= at is=20 continuing this year, the fact that in several sports such as basketball,=
boxing, handball, men=D5s hockey and volleyball they provide the qualifying=
route for the Atlanta Olympic Games will ensure that the best are on show.=
Even in athletics the quality is still high with past Games having served a=
the launching pad for many future world and Olympic champions. =20 Braazaville provided sports fans with a first indication of the incredible=
talents of the legendary Kipchoge Keino of Kenya who two months later=20 would become Africa=D5s first world record holder and went on to win two=20 gold and two silver medals at the Olympics in Mexico City and Munich.=20 Also on show in Brazzaville were Naftali Temu who won the 10 000m for=20 Kenya in Mexico City and Ethiopia=D5s Mamo Wolde who claimed the=20 marathon title at the same Olympics. The second All Africa Games in Lagos saw the only world record ever set=20 in the Games when Kenya=D5s Ben Jipcho equalled the 3 000m steeplechase=20 record, a mark he would claim for himself later that year.=20 At those same Games Tanzania=D5s 20-year-old Filbert Bayi served notice of=
world records and Olympic medals to come when he eclipsed the great=20 Keino in the 1 500m. Other African greats like Ethiopia=D5s Miruts Yifter=
and Derartu Tulu, Kenya=D5s Henry Rono, Billy Konchellah, John Ngugi and=20 Moses Kiptanui, Uganda=D5s John Akii-Bua, Mozambique=D5s Maria Mutola=20 and Namibia=D5s Frankie Fredericks have all won athletics titles at previou=