Who is abebe bikila

He underwent surgery amid a public outcry for a proper medical council to decide on the procedure. However, the reception Abebe received from the Japanese people helped him recover rather quickly and unexpectedly.

Along with his colleagues, Mamo Wolde and Demssie Wolde, Abebe resumed his regular training after few days of his arrival in Tokyo. The marathon race, particularly, the way Abebe won it barely six weeks after his surgery and the gymnastic display he showed right after finishing the race victoriously is now a classic image engraved in the minds of hundreds of millions of people of this planet. This was also the first time ever that the marathon race was won consecutively by an athlete.

The new record of that Abebe set was also an icing on a cake for this remarkable race. Abebe trained hard for the Mexico City Olympics of Unfortunately, he had to withdraw from the race after running 15 kilometers due to bad health.

His compatriot, Mamo Wolde would later finish the race victoriously. Abebe had competed in more than 26 major marathon races in his illustrious athletic career. Although he regained some upper-body mobility, he never walked again.

Abebe competed in archery and table tennis at the Stoke Mandeville Games in London, an early predecessor of the Paralympic Games, while receiving medical treatment in England. He competed in both sports at a competition for the disabled in Norway and won its cross-country sleigh-riding event.

Abebe died at age 41 on October 25, , of a cerebral hemorrhage related to his accident four years earlier. He received a state funeral, and Emperor Haile Selassie declared a national day of mourning.

Many schools, venues, and events, including Abebe Bikila Stadium in Addis Ababa, are named after him. The subject of biographies and films documenting his athletic career, Abebe is often featured in publications about the marathon and the Olympics. Abebe was the son of Wudinesh Beneberu and her second husband, Bikila Demissie. The family eventually moved back to Jato or nearby Jirru , where they had a farm. During the mids, Abebe ran 20 km 12 mi from the hills of Sululta to Addis Ababa and back every day.

Onni Niskanen, a Swedish coach employed by the Ethiopian government to train the Imperial Guard, soon noticed him and began training him for the marathon. Abebe Bikila with wife Yewebdar and eldest son Dawit c. Abebe Bikila married year-old Yewebdar Wolde-Giorgis c. Although the marriage was arranged by his mother, Abebe was happy and they remained married for the rest of his life. Abebe and Yewebdar had several children. Their eldest son Dawit was born c.

The son of a shepherd, Bikila began running at age He was little known outside of Ethiopia when he entered the Olympics and ran the marathon, barefoot, on the cobblestones of the Appian Way. Tied for the lead for much of the race, he broke ahead in the last 1, meters and crossed the finish line at the Arch of Constantine in 2 hours 15 minutes In July , Abebe won his first marathon in Addis Ababa.

In Rome, Abebe Bikila purchased new running shoes, but they did not fit well and gave him blisters. He consequently decided to run barefoot instead. Between 5 km 3 mi and 20 km 12 mi , the lead changed hands several times. By about 25 km 16 mi , however, Abebe and ben Abdesselam moved away from the rest of the pack. Abebe and ben Abdesselam remained together until the last m 1, ft. Nearing the Obelisk again, Abebe sprinted to the finish.

He is the subject of biographies and films documenting his athletic career, and he is often featured in publications about the marathon and the Olympics. Abebe Bikila en 20 andere mooie verhalen uit 20 jaar Runner's world. In: Journal of African cultural studies, , Vol. Jump to Navigation. Search form Search. For the first time ever, the race would not start or end in the Olympic Stadium, and for the first time, it would be run at night.

The runners began at p. The later section of the race would be run in the dark, with the route lit by Roman soldiers holding torches. The last few miles would be run on the Appian Way, a road built by the ancient Romans, where Roman troops had marched thousands of years ago.

The group of runners assembled for the race was impressive, and Bikila was not expected to win. He would probably not have been noticed at all were it not for the fact that he chose to wear no running shoes. Used to running barefoot in Ethiopia, Bikila would run the entire He had tried to run a few practice miles on the Roman streets with shoes, but found that they pinched his feet.

At six miles, two more runners caught up, but Sergie Popov of the Soviet Union who held the world record and was expected to win was still behind. By 16 miles, Bikila and Rhadi were in front. Previously, Bikila had decided that he would not take the lead until after the mile mark, and now he was there. At 18 miles, he was still battling Rhadi for the lead. Unlike everyone else, Bikila and his coach had assumed that he would be in the lead at the end of the race.

In the last few miles, Bikila looked for a place where he could decisively overtake Rhadi. A little more than a mile from the finish, Bikila saw a statue known as the Obelisk of Axum, which had originally come from Ethiopia, and which had been stolen by invading Italian troops during World War II.

For Bikila, it was symbolic. As he and Rhadi passed the obelisk, he surged forward so strongly that Rhadi could no longer keep up. Dodging a motor scooter whose driver had mistakenly driven onto the course, he beat Rhadi by 25 seconds, with a finishing time of With this time, he won the gold medal, beat Popov's previous world record by eight tenths of a second, and beat the Olympic record for the marathon by almost 8 seconds.

Newspapers the next day commented that it had taken an entire Italian army to conquer Ethiopia, but only one Ethiopian soldier to conquer Rome. Bikila's gold medal was the first Olympic medal won by a black African. This achievement, with Rhadi's silver medal, marked the beginning of a new era in international competition, in which African athletes would come to dominate distance running.

Bikila achieved instant fame around the world. He was known as the Ethiopian who had conquered Rome. In , Bikila won marathon races in Greece, Japan, and Czechoslovakia.