Born in a country that had never won a single Olympic medal, Abebe Bikila won two. He won the first one barefoot.
Abebe Bikila ( August 7, 1932 – October 25, 1973) was just like anybody else. He was born in a small town in Ethiopia on the exact date of the 1932 Olympic Marathon. I don’t know if he believed in omens. I don’t know if I even believe in omens, but I’m not willing to say that wasn’t one.
Abebe became a bodyguard for the Ethiopian royal family. To stay in shape, the military men had regular sporting events, one of which was the marathon. At the age of 17, Bikila ran the Annual National Army Competition marathon in 2 hours and 29 minutes. He was noticed by a Swedish athletic trainer, Onni Niskanen. Bikila wasn’t originally on the team for the Olympics in 1960. However, one of the Ethiopian runners, Wami Biratu, fell ill, and Bikila was added to the marathon roster at the last minute.
Days prior to the 1960 Olympic Marathon, Bikila developed a blister on his feet from training in new shoes. As a result, he decided to run the marathon barefoot. Bikila’s plan, which he executed flawlessly, was to hang with the leader pack until only one kilometer (.622 miles) remained, then surge forward. The one kilometer mark was noted by the Obelisk of Axum, which Italy had stolen from Ethiopia in 1937. Bikila passed the stolen monument and took the lead. For the final kilometer, he gradually increased his lead. He finished in 2:15:16, a new world record.
After the race, when asked why he had run barefoot, Bikila said, “I wanted the whole world to know that my country, Ethiopia, has always won with determination and heroism.”
In 1964, Bikila returned to the Olympics in Japan. At the time, no one had ever won the Olympic Marathon twice. Also, he had undergone an appendectomy 40 days earlier. Nonetheless, his plan was to take the lead and crush the competition. Bikila took the lead around the halfway mark and never slowed down. He won his second Olympic gold medal in 2:12:11, another new world record.
He returned to Ethiopia after his second victory and was greeted like a hero. He’d put Ethiopia on the sports map as a place to be feared. He was gifted a white Volkswagen Beetle. This car would be his undoing.
Before the 1968 Mexico City Olympics — the one immortalized by Tommie Smith and John Carlos raising black power fists — Bikila broke a bone in his foot and was unable to race. Most say that he would have won that race as well. His teammate, Mamo Wolde, won the race, further solidifying Ethiopia’s place as a running powerhouse.
A year later, Bikila was driving his Volkswagen Beetle and swerved to avoid a group of protesters. He landed in a ditch. He was rendered paraplegic by the accident.
About his accident, he said, “”Men of success meet with tragedy. It was the will of God that I won the Olympics, and it was the will of God that I met with my accident. I accepted those victories as I accept this tragedy. I have to accept both circumstances as facts of life and live happily.”
On October 25, 1973, Abebe Bikila died of a cerebral hemorrhage, a complication from his accident four years earlier.
TL;DR
- Abebe Bikila set out to become a bodyguard. Instead, he won the Olympic Marathon twice and set two world records in the process.
- He was paralyzed in an automobile accident near his hometown.
What You Should Do Now:
- Read Abebe Bikila’s biography.
- Get outside. Walk, run, sit on your porch, whatever. Just get outside for a few minutes.
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- Blanche Bruce
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- Dennis Kimetto
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- Anthony Mackie/Falcon
- Val James