Abebe Bikila, (born August 7, 1932, Mont, Ethiopia—died October 25, 1973, Addis Ababa), Ethiopian marathon runner who received a gold medal and set a world file whereas working barefoot on the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, then bested his personal file on the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo. He was the primary athlete to win two Olympic marathons.
The son of a shepherd, Bikila started working at age 24. He was little identified outdoors of Ethiopia when he entered the 1960 Olympics and ran the marathon, barefoot, on the cobblestones of the Appian Way. Tied for the lead for a lot of the race, he broke forward within the final 1,000 metres and crossed the end line on the Arch of Constantine in 2 hours quarter-hour 16.2 seconds. Four years later he underwent an appendectomy 40 days earlier than the Tokyo Olympics. Nevertheless, he received a second gold medal, working the marathon—this time sporting sneakers—in 2 hours 12 minutes 11.2 seconds. He entered the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City however was pressured to drop out of the marathon with a damaged leg after 10 miles. A member of the emperor Haile Selassie’s imperial bodyguards, Bikila rose to the rank of captain within the palace guard. An car accident in 1969 left him a paraplegic.