Abebe Bikila
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| Olympic medal record | |||
| Men's athletics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | 1960 Rome | Marathon | |
| Gold | 1964 Tokyo | Marathon | |
Abebe Bikila (August 7, 1932 – October 25, 1973) was a two-time Olympic marathon champion from Ethiopia. A stadium in Addis Ababa is named in his honor. [1]
Contents |
[edit] Background
[edit] 1932 – 1959
Abebe was born on August 7, 1932 in the village of Jato, located 9km outside the city of Mendida, Ethiopia to a shepherd. Abebe decided to join the Imperial Guards to provide support for his family and walked to Addis Ababa where he started as a private.
Onni Niskanen, a Swede was hired by the Ethiopian government to train potential athletes. He soon spotted Abebe Bikila.
[edit] 1960 Olympics
At the last moment, as the plane to Rome was about to leave, Abebe Bikila was chosen as part of the Ethiopian Olympic team due to the injury of Wami - who broke his ankle in a football match. Major Onni Niskanen entered Abebe and Mamo Wolde in the marathon. Adidas, the shoe sponsor at the 1960 Olympics, had few shoes left when Abebe went to try shoes and he ended up with a pair that didn’t fit comfortably. A couple of hours before the race the decision was taken by Abebe to run barefoot. Abebe was warned by Niskanen about his main rivals, one of them was Rhadi Ben Abdesselam from Morocco who was supposed to wear number 26. The late afternoon race had its starting point and finish at the Arch of Constantine, just outside the Colosseum. At the start of the race the Australian Ron Clarke made a comment to Abebe about running barefoot. During the race Abebe passed numerous runners, looking for the runner with number 26. By about 20km, Abebe and the runner with number 185 had created a gap with the rest of the pack. Abebe didn’t know who he was running with but kept looking forward to find the runner with number 26, Rhadi. They stayed together until the last 500m, when Abebe sprinted to the finish line. Abebe was the first to cross the finish line in a record time of 2:15:16.2, becoming the first African to win a gold Olympic medal. He finished 26 seconds ahead of Rhadi. When Abebe was asked about why he ran barefoot, he replied “I wanted the world to know that my country, Ethiopia, has always won with determination and heroism." Niskanen later speculated that if Ridah hadn’t competed in the 10,000m race several days before, the race might have been closer.
[edit] 1960 - 1964
Bikilia returned to Ethiopia as a hero. He was promoted to corporal position by emperor Haile Selassie I and awarded the Star of Ethiopia. Shortly after the Olympics General Mengistu plotted a coup and Abebe, who didn’t understand politics, was forced to take part. Abebe refused to kill dignitaries and when the coup attempt failed all involved were sentenced to death by hanging. Abebe was pardoned by the emperor after lobbying by numerous people.
In 1961 Bikila ran marathons in Greece, Japan and Czechoslovakia, all of which he won. Between October 1961 and April 1963 he did not compete in any international marathon. Bikila entered the Boston marathon and finished in 5th place, the first marathon he competed in and did not win. He returned to Ethiopia and didn’t compete in another marathon until the marathon of Addis Ababa in 1964. He won this race, taking 2:23:14 to complete the course.
40 days prior to the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, during a training run near Addis, Abebe Bikila started to feel pain. Unaware of the cause of the pain, he attempted to overcome this pain but collapsed. He was taken to hospital where he was diagnosed with acute appendicitis. He was operated on and shortly after, during the recovery period, he started jogging in the hospital courtyard at night.
[edit] 1964 Olympics
Abebe Bikila traveled to Tokyo but was not expected to compete. He did enter the marathon, this time wearing Asics shoes, he used the same strategy as in 1960: to stay with the leaders until the 20km point, then slowly increase the pace. When he passed the leader of the race, the Japanese runner Tsuburaya Kokichi, the crowd that had been cheering all along the course was silenced. After running 35 km, Bikila had an amazing 4km lead. He entered the stadium alone to the cheers of 70,000 spectators. He finished the marathon in a new record time of 2:12:11, becoming the first athlete in history to win the Olympic marathon twice. After finishing he astonished the crowd, not appearing exhausted, he started a routine of stretching exercises. He later stated that he could have run another 10km.
[edit] 1964 - 1968
Bikila returned to Ethiopia to a heroes welcome, once again. He was once again promoted by the emperor and received a car, a white Volkswagen Beetle, which was a real status symbol as there were not many cars in Ethiopia at this time.
[edit] 1968 Olympics
Once again Bikila and Mamo Wolde were entered into the marathon. This time however Bikila had to leave the race after approximately 17km, due to an injury in his right knee. He watched his friend and long time running partner Mamo Wolde win. Mamo Wolde later stated that had Bikila not been injured, he would surely have won.[2]
[edit] 1969 - 1973
In 1969, during civil unrest in Addis, Bikila was driving his Volkswagen Beetle when he had to swerve to avoid a group of protesting students. He lost control of his car and it landed in a ditch, trapping him. He was freed out of the car but the accident left him quadriplegic. He was operated on at the Stoke Mandeville hospital in England and his condition improved to paraplegic. Niskanen convinced him to compete in paraplegic archery competitions and Abebe joked that he would win the next Olympic marathon in a wheelchair.
Abebe was invited as a special guest to the 1972 Olympics in Munich where he witnessed American Frank Shorter win the marathon. After Shorter received his medal he went to Bikila to shake his hand.
In October 1973 Abebe died in Addis Ababa at age 41 from cerebral hemorrhage, a complication related to the accident four years earlier. He left behind his wife and four children. His funeral in Addis Ababa was attended by 65,000 and emperor Haile Selassie proclaimed a national day of mourning for Ethiopia’s national hero. A stadium in Addis Ababa was named in his honour. In August of 2005, with the assistance of Isabel and Dave Welland, and Philip and Donna Berber of the organization A Glimmer of Hope Foundation, a Oromo school named Yaya Abebe Bikila Primary Village School was erected in Bikila's honor by the local Mendida community; the school exists a few hundred yards from the remains of the village of Jato.
[edit] Trivia
Abebe Bikila has totally flat feet with no arch at all.
| Olympic champions in men's marathon |
|---|
| 1896: Spiridon Louis | 1900: Michel Théato | 1904: Thomas J. Hicks | 1906: William Sherring | 1908: Johnny Hayes | 1912: Kenneth McArthur | 1920: Hannes Kolehmainen | 1924: Albin Stenroos | 1928: Boughera El Ouafi | 1932: Juan Carlos Zabala | 1936: Sohn Kee-chung | 1948: Delfo Cabrera | 1952: Emil Zátopek | 1956: Alain Mimoun | 1960: Abebe Bikila | 1964: Abebe Bikila | 1968: Mamo Wolde | 1972: Frank Shorter | 1976: Waldemar Cierpinski | 1980: Waldemar Cierpinski | 1984: Carlos Lopes | 1988: Gelindo Bordin | 1992: Hwang Young-Cho | 1996: Josia Thugwane | 2000: Gezahegne Abera | 2004: Stefano Baldini |
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.databaseolympics.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=BIKILABE01 DatabaseOlympics profile
- ^ Barefoot Runner by Rambali, ISBN 1852429046
