Abebe Bikila

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Abebe Bikila (August 7, 1932 – October 25, 1973) was a two-time Olympic marathon champion from Ethiopia. The national stadium in Addis Ababa is named in his honor.

Background

Bikila was born in Mout, Ethiopia in 1932. He served in Emperor Haile Selassie's Imperial Guard.

At the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Bikila was affected by high altitude, injury, and age and ended up withdrawing from the marathon after 17 kilometers. He did, however, witness his fellow countryman, Mamo Wolde, win the race.

In 1969, Bikila was involved in a car accident near Addis Ababa, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. He never regained full health and died in Addis Ababa at the age of 41 from cerebral hemorrhage, a complication related to the accident.

Achievements

Bikila became a national hero after winning the Olympic gold medal in the marathon at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, setting a world record of 2 h 15 min 16.2 s. In addition to winning the gold, Bikila became famous for running it barefoot. During the marathon, Bikila passed the Obelisk of Axum, which had been looted from Ethiopia after the Second Italo-Abyssinian War.

At the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Bikila was in a weakened condition. He had had his appendix removed six weeks before the race, which forced him to curtail his training regimen for the marathon. Nevertheless, Bikila - this time wearing running shoes - repeated his prior Olympic win, setting a new world record of 2 h 12 min 11.2 s. He impressed the Olypmic Stadium crowd by performing jumping jacks and other exercises immediately after his victory while other runners crossed the finish line and collapsed.

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