“The 28 year old Abebe Bikila amazed the world when, unknown & unheralded, he won the Rome Olympic Marathon in 1960 by running the whole event barefoot. Four years later, he won the Marathon Gold again in the 1964 Tokyo Olympic games but this time with Shoes.
Abebe was added to the Ethiopian Olympic team only at the last moment as the plane to Rome was about to leave as a replacement for Wami Biratu who was seriously ill.
Adidas, the Shoe sponsor at the 1960 Summer Olympics, had few shoes left when Abebe went to try out one & he ended up with a pair that didn’t fit comfortably so he couldn’t use them. A couple of hours before the race, Abebe decided to run barefoot & attracted the World’s attention by running the event barefoot.
Mamo Wolde became Ethiopa’s National Hero at the 1968 Mexico Olympic games where he unexpectedly captured the Gold Medal in the Marathon & the Silver in the 10,000M. Four years latter, he won the Marathon bronze in the Munich Olympic games.
Wami Biratu was once among the best Ethiopian long distance runners. He had at one point trained Abebe Bikila. In his career, Wami had won 30 Gold, 40 Silver & 10 Bronze.
©️Ethiopian History and Tourism/የኢትዮጵያ ታሪክና ቱሪዝም
