the marathon closed the athletic program of the 1960 Rome Olympics. Was scheduled at night to avoid the high temperatures of hot Roman summer. At the starting line favorites were the Russian and Moroccan Popov Ben Rhadi Abdeselem, while feeling great Ethiopian athlete was a stranger, named Abebe Bikila, who was present in the starting line barefoot to the general strangeness. In his country had taken a couple of marathons with good results, but the rest of the world just had news of him.
The race went through all sites in the Italian capital and thousands of torches, glowing in the dark of night, gave it a magical atmosphere. to 30 km test dominates the Moroccan, who commanded a small group of athletes. Suddenly, Bikila was placed in front of the printing group that only a strong pace Rhadi could follow. In the last few miles further forced up leaving his opponent to come triumphant through the Arch of Constantine, at the foot of the Colosseum, in a time of 2h15: 16, representing a new world record and lowered in eight minutes old Emil Zatopek's Olympic record.
Much has been said about the reason that led barefoot Bikila to play that race. The reality is that he was not comfortable with any of the shoes they had supplied the team sponsor, so he decided to run barefoot, something I did at times in their training. "I wanted the world to know that my country has always won with determination and heroism, "declared then the issue by adding more epic.
The image of her bare feet, and again hitting the asphalt in the Italian capital, lies in the archives of the unforgettable moments in the history of athletics. His triumph by striking and by the way, meant there was an event. Never before has an African athlete had proclaimed Olympic champion ... never a stranger had broken with such force in the picture of athleticism ... no one had ever before dared to barefoot running a test on this scale. Suddenly, Bikila became be a hero in his country, pride in black Africa and a whole set of world sport.
His victory was also full of symbolism that transcended purely sport. By chance, or fate, that the line of that race was just below the Arch of Constantine, from which it had left 25 years before Mussolini's troops to conquer Ethiopia in the Second Italo Abyssinian War. And also wanted the chance, or perhaps it was fate that his attack that finally broke the race to step produced by the Obelisk of Axum, Ethiopian monument looted by Italian troops in that war.
the elite of the army
Born August 7, 1932 at Jato (a town in southern Ethiopia), within a humble peasant family, Abebe Bikila spent his childhood and youth to study and help his father, a pastor in the work of the field. Did not start running seriously until the age of 17 he joined the Ethiopian army, shortly after entering the Imperial Guard Corps of the Royal Palace in Addis Ababa. In the army rose to prominence as an athlete and a person known there that was instrumental in his life, the Swedish coach Onni Niskanen (hired by the Ethiopian government to train their athletes) who could see and polish the rough diamond that is between his hands making him the best marathoner of the moment.
The lean athlete (1.76 m, 57 kg) was unveiled in his country in 1956, with 24, when he participated in the national championships in the Armed Forces, where he defeated in the 5,000 meters high then national hero, WAME Biratu, master of all distances of Ethiopian background. For years both athletes maintain a healthy rivalry (they were great friends), which almost always side veteran decanted Biratu. With a single seat at stake, Bikila beat his friend in the race that decided who would run the marathon at the Rome Olympics. Legend has it that two athletes made a pact Abebe's victory as Biratu had assured place in the 10,000. Anyway, Bikila, an entire unknown outside his country, was planted in Rome, where his courage and strength she devoted to the highest.
That victory earned him his promotion to sergeant in the Ethiopian army and a diamond ring. However, in a country dominated by absolutist stirred Negus Haile Selassie, the last Ethiopian emperor, was involved in a messy affair that point was to cost him his life. As part of the Imperial Guard was involved in a failed coup attempt which had no active part. Along with the other conspirators, was sentenced to death by hanging, though the emperor amnesty (he was a national hero) and rejoined the ranks, so that did not take the rest of those involved.
Gloria and drama back to the high competition in the Games which would be devoted Tokio'1964 definitely like an Olympic star. Bikila had followed a thorough and meticulous preparation, but bad luck and crossed paths with five weeks for the test had to be operated on for appendicitis. So, with little training after convalescence, was presented in Tokyo where, this time wearing and slippers, came back to win the Olympic marathon with a spectacular time (2h12: 11), which lowered more than three minutes in his own world record which involved running a 19.152 km / h. Again, and not the last time in his life, the epic drama and walked hand in its path. Bikila thus became the first athlete to win two gold medals in that race, a feat only matched later by the German Waldemar Cierpinski.
still took part in a third Olympic Games (México'1968) but far longer in his best form and with pains in his right leg, was forced off at kilometer 17. It was the last major competition in which he participated before the tragedy crossed his path. A year later, he suffered a serious car accident near Addis Ababa that left him paralyzed lower extremities, and sentenced him to live forever in a wheelchair. That accident put an end to a perfect athletic career, which resulted in 15 marathons in dispute, of which over 13, winning 12 of them.
On October 25, 1973, with 41 years of age, cerebral hemorrhage killed the "God of bare feet, the forerunner of the great champions of today Ethiopian (Gebresselassie, Bekele, Dibaba, Tulu, Yifter ...) His memory will remain indelible in the memory of all athletics and its citizens, which his honor they named the National Stadium in Addis Ababa.
