• His name was Abebe Bikila. He was born in 1/12/1924 E.C (August 7, 1932 G.C) in Ethiopia.

• In the 1960 Rome Olympic, He won a marathon Gold medal and set a new world record by running barefoot. No one expected him to win except his Swedish coach Onni Niskanen.

• After the victory when he was interviewed, he said "I want the world to know that my country Ethiopia always have won with determination and heroism". When he was asked how much he could have run after the finish, he added he could run 12-15 Kilometers extra.

• In 1935-36, Italy had invaded Ethiopia and had occupied some parts of the country for 5 years. During that time they had looted one of the Axum Obelisk and planted it in Roma(now it has been returned to Ethiopia). Abebe had passed by it during the marathon. One newspaper in Italy at that time after Ababa victory wrote "Mussolini sent million soldiers to invade Ethiopia, but Ethiopia only sent one imperial body guard to conquer Rome". He became a world sensation after this.

• In the 1964 Tokyo Olympic, one month after having a surgery to remove his appendix, he won again a marathon Gold medal and set again a new world record, but this time he worn a shoe. He was the first athlete to defend a Olympic marathon. All the 75,000 attendances cheered when he entered the stadium to finish.

• In the 1968 Mexico Olympic, he was injured during the marathon race and he was forced to drop out, but nevertheless another Ethiopian named Mamo Wolde won the race.

• Between 1960-68, Abebe Bikila not only won 2 Olympic marathons, but also many other top level international marathons.

• In 15/2/1966 E.C (October 25, 1973 G.C) at the age of 41, Abebe Bikila died because of the injury he sustained during a car accident in March 22, 1969.

• Abebe opened the doors for many other African athletes to dominate long distances running like what we see today. He was actually the role model for the great Ethiopian runners like Fatuma Roba, Deraretu Tulu, Haile Gebreselassie, Kenanisa Bikila, Tirunash Debaba, Meserat Defar and many more.

People say, Mohammad Ali, Pela or Maradona are the best athlete of the 20th century AD, but for me and some, Abebe Bikila is the all time great. In the 1960s, Mohammad Ali actually asked Abebe Bikila for his signature and the two signed their signatures for each other's.

• Abebe Bikila achievements were not only great and pride for Ethiopians, but also for all Africans and black peoples.
For more, check:-
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abebe_Bikila

Long live Abebe Bikila legacies.

I'm not surprised he's Ethiopian, don't test Ethiopia and Kenya with endurance running

Video from the 1960 Rome and 1964 Tokyo Olympic marathons.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Dppdcy1pyM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1_umU-Bizs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN3mBRiWHC0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV7XpcpFPN8

malificent:
I'm not surprised he's Ethiopian, don't test Ethiopia and Kenya with endurance running

Rightly said