Athletic Legends - Part VI Abebe Bikila The barefoot runner

Athletic Legends - Part VI Abebe Bikila The barefoot runner

Abebe Bikila was born on Aug 7, 1932 in the village of Jato, far away from the city of Mendida, Ethiopia. In order to support his poor family, he decided to join the Imperial Bodyguard in the capital city, Addis Ababa.

Haile Selassie I, an emperor of Ethiopia was interested in modernization and made constant efforts to enhance national prestige through sports. Onni Niskanen, a Finnish-born Swede, was hired by the government to train potential athletes. It didn’t took too long for Niskanen to spot the remarkable athlete Bikila from the lines.

He was added to the Ethiopian Olympic team as a replacement for Wami Biratu, who had broken his ankle in a soccer match, just before the plane to Rome was about to takeoff.

Abebe is known as a barefoot runner but it was not deliberate intention of him.

The official shoe sponsor Adidas provided shoes for Abebe but they didn’t fit comfortably for him. Abebe decided to run barefoot few hours before the race. Surprisingly, the marathon winner of Rome Olympic Games in 1960 was barefoot Abebe Bikila.

Abebe won the Marathon in a record time of 2:15:16.2 and als becoming the first black African to win an Olympic gold medal. Here’s quotation for the reason of barefoot. “I wanted the world to know my country, Ethiopia, has always won with determination and heroism.”

Abebe the first African winner became a celebrity and participated main marathon race in the world and won most of them. The only race he didn’t win the gold medal was the 5th Boston Marathon in 1963, he and ranked 5th place.

He set a goal for the winning of next Olympic in Tokyo 1964. But he was diagnosed with acute appendicitis 6 weeks prior to the event. There was not enough time for him to recover and join the Marathon.

After all he flew to Tokyo, but no one expected he’ll to participate but he finished the marathon in a new world record time of 2h 12m 11s.

He was the first athlete in the history to win the Olympic marathon twice. Once again he joined the next marathon in Mexico 1968. Before the Marathon he broke a small bone in his foot. Ignoring the injury in his foot he had to give up. The injury was too serious. He watched his old friend Mamo Wolde win the gold medal even though he didn’t make 3 year consecutive winning.

In the late 1968, the world was not stable and peaceful due to continuous protests in U.S and Europe. Political and military conflicts had not ceased in African continent where his country Ethiopia was.

One day in 1969, he had a car accident trying to avoid protesters in the road and became paraplegic due to the accident. It was shocking to him, but he was positive enough to overcome the injury.

He made a jokes for the concerning people that he’ll win the gold in a wheelchair next Olympics.

Actually, he didn’t participate in the 1972 Olympics, but he attempted to transform into archery saying that he still got two hands.

On the 23 Oct 1973, he died on a cerebral hemorrhage all of sudden. His funeral in Addis Ababa, attended nearly 75,000. Emperor proclaimed a national day of mourning. After his death, numerous awards, school and stadium named after him.