Olympic Track & Field Codexery

Abebe Bikila

Ethiopian marathoner who won two Olympic golds, first barefoot.

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Abebe Bikila was an Ethiopian marathon runner who became the first Ethiopian Olympic gold medalist.[1]

Key facts and history

Abebe Bikila was born on August 7, 1932, in Jato, Shewa.[2] In Rome, he ran barefoot because new shoes gave him blisters.[3] Forty days before the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, he had an appendectomy.[4] On March 22, 1969, a car accident left him quadriplegic.[5][6]

During the Korean War, Abebe Bikila was a member of the Kagnew Battalion.[7] In 1961, Abebe Bikila won the Athens Classical Marathon without shoes; this competition marked the final occasion he raced barefoot.[8] Wearing Puma shoes, Abebe Bikila completed the Tokyo marathon in a time of 2:12:11.2.[9][10] A leg injury that Abebe Bikila first experienced in July 1967 caused him to be unable to complete his final two marathon races.[11]

Abebe Bikila passed away on October 25, 1973, due to a cerebral hemorrhage that was a complication from his car accident.[12]

What the cited sources add

The World Athletics feature notes that Bikila became the first black African to win an Olympic marathon gold medal.[13] The same source states that Bikila won 12 of the 13 marathons he completed between 1960 and 1966.[13] Lewis also notes that Bikila's car accident occurred after he was last seen in a bar at 9pm on wet roads.[14] The World Athletics article notes the irony of Abebe Bikila making his decisive move near the Obelisco di Axum, a monument that had been taken from Ethiopia by Italian forces following their 1936 invasion.[13]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Abebe Bikila" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Remembering Bikila's 1960 Olympic marathon victory on its 60th anniversary", World Athletics (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Abebe Bikila" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ; ; ; ; ; ; Underwood, "The Number Two Lion in the Land of Sheba", April 12, 1965, p. 86–92 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Abebe Bikila" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Runner: Abebe Bikila", ARRS; ; ; ; Greenspan, "Maybe he was the best", Parade Magazine, November 5, 1989, p. 14; (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Abebe Bikila" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ; ; ; (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Abebe Bikila" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ; Lewis, "Triumph of the shoeless superstar", The Guardian, July 26, 2008; (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Abebe Bikila" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ; ; ; ; "Crippled Bikila Set To Leave Hospital", The New York Times, November 23, 1969; ; ; (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Abebe Bikila" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: '6·25 전쟁' 참전 에디오피아 마라토너, 한국 두 번 살려준 사연 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Abebe Bikila" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Associated Press, "Ethiopian Runs Barefooted, Set Marathon Mark", St. Joseph Gazette, May 8, 1961; Hauman, "Century of the marathon, 1896–1996", Human & Rousseau, 1996, p. 53; "Race: Mainichi 1961", ARRS; "Race: Kosice 1961", ARRS (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Abebe Bikila" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ; ; ; ; ; (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Abebe Bikila" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ; ; ; ; ; ; (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Abebe Bikila" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ; ; Gebreselassie, "Abebe Bikila", October 26, 2006 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  12. Wikipedia, "Abebe Bikila" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Greenspan, "Maybe he was the best", Parade Magazine, November 5, 1989, p. 14; Associated Press, "Abebe Bikila, 46, Track Star, Dies", The New York Times, October 26, 1973; ; Sears, "Running Through the Ages, 2d ed.", McFarland, June 8, 2015, p. 281; (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  13. "Remembering Bikila's 1960 Olympic marathon victory on its 60th anniversary", World Athletics. facts only, no text reused. worldathletics.org
  14. Lewis, "Triumph of the shoeless superstar", The Guardian, July 26, 2008. facts only, no text reused. theguardian.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Abebe Bikila (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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