He ran barefoot and won two marathon titles: Who is Ababe Bikila?

(1932-1977) Abyssinian athlete. He won the marathon championship by running barefoot in two Olympics. During the 1960 Rome Olympic Games, Bikila attracted the attention of the sports world with the championship he won by running barefoot in the marathon competition. On his return to Abyssinia, he was promoted from private to officer in the guard regiment by Emperor Haile Selassie. He won the championship in the marathon competition, which he again participated in barefoot at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games. While preparing for the 1968 games, he was paralyzed as a result of a traffic accident in Addis Ababa. He spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

Life story

Being a legend is not an easy task. It is a great success to be able to carry his name outside the borders of his own country and to be talked about for years… Ethiopian athlete Abebe Bikila is also the hero of a success that will not be forgotten for many years…

Who is Abebe Bikila?

Abebe Bikila was born on August 7, 1932, in Ethiopia. Extremely agile, Bikila attracted attention with his talent at a young age.

Living in Ethiopia in those years was more difficult than it is now. In economic terms, the people were faced with great difficulties and hunger. Considering the economic conditions of the country, it was very normal that Bikila could not to find shoes while running.

Running barefoot; Bikila, whose speed no one could keep up with, participated in the Olympic Games hosted by Rome in 1960.

Asked to wear shoes

Bikila was constantly running barefoot in races and training sessions until he arrived in Rome. It was reported that the athlete, who will compete in the Olympic games, should wear sports shoes.

He started looking for shoes in Rome

Bikila, who had been training with sneakers for a while, noticed that the shoes slowed down his speed. Along with the Ethiopian authorities, Bikila kept searching for shoes in Rome. However, the entire sole of the athlete's feet was covered with a very hard layer of calluses. Therefore, the athlete had problems with all the shoes he wore. Sometimes his feet got watery and sometimes he bled.

Bare feet, approved

After the developments, it was approved for the athlete to run barefoot. Going to the biggest organization in his career, Bikila both won a gold medal for his country and went down in history as a black man.

Abebe Bikila became the first black athlete to win a gold medal in the history of the Olympic Games. After this success, Bikila took part in various organizations and achieved many successes.

The Ethiopian athlete had a traffic accident on March 11, 1969. The talented athlete was paralyzed after the accident.

Passed away at age 41

Bikila died on October 25, 1973, at the age of 41, due to a cerebral hemorrhage. Seventy-five thousand people attended the funeral of the famous athlete.