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Shambel Abebe Bikila ( Amharic: ሻምበል አበበ ቢቂላ; August 7, 1932 – October 25, 1973) was an Ethiopian marathon runner who was a back-to-back Olympic marathon champion. He was the first Ethiopian Olympic gold medalist, winning his first gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome while running barefoot. [3]
Jun 2, 2024 · Abebe Bikila (born August 7, 1932, Jato, Ethiopia—died October 25, 1973, Addis Ababa) was an Ethiopian marathon runner who won a gold medal and set a world record while running barefoot at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome.
Oct 11, 2020 · Of the 13 marathons he ever competed in, Abebe Bikila won 12. Until he first graced the Olympic stage, East African athletes had never won Olympic gold. Now runners from the region are the dominant force in long-distance running, with Ethiopia on its own having won a total of 22 gold medals. Bikila returned home a hero, but in 1969 tragedy struck.
Abebe Bikila was born in Ethiopia on 7 August 1932, the day of the Los Angeles Olympic marathon. Attacking by the obelisk Twenty-eight years later, he entered the marathon at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome.
Sep 10, 2020 · When Abebe Bikila – running barefoot - became the first black African to win an Olympic marathon gold medal on the streets of Rome it was without doubt one of the most iconic moments of the 1960 Games.
Mar 8, 2012 · Abebe Bikila's marathon victory at the 1960 Olympic Games was the first time that an Olympic gold medal had been won by a black athlete representing an African nation. His triumph in Rome became a beacon for the generations of African runners, particularly from East Africa, that followed in his footsteps in the subsequent decades.
BIKILA, born on 7 August 1932, on the day of the marathon event at the Los Angeles Olympics, was a skilled swimmer and horse rider who joined Emperor Hailé SELASSIE's Imperial Guard. Spotted by...
Apr 25, 2012 · Bikila Abebe, a 28-year-old member of Emperor Haile Selassie’s bodyguard, won the marathon gold medal in the last big event of the Olympics last night. Abedisiem Rhadi of Morocco was second and...
Though it came to an early tragic end, Abebe Bikila was usually considered the greatest marathoner ever during his life. He was the first person to win the Olympic marathon consecutively, doing so in 1960 and 1964.
In 1960, Abebe Bikila attracted the world’s attention being the first East African to win a medal and running the event barefoot. In Tokyo 1964, he won again.
