Introduction
The victory of a barefoot Ethiopian in the marathon at the Games in Rome in 1960 is definitely one of the ten greatest events in Olympic history. In those days, in the world of athletics, no one suspected the phenomenon of runners from East Africa, and Abebe Bikila was generally an absolute no-name. The world record holder for the longest distance was then the representative of the USSR, Sergey Popov, and the world champion in cross-country was the Moroccan Rhadi Ben Abdesselam. However, suddenly one of the most prestigious races with a new world record was won by a guy without running shoes – Bikila. The discussion below will show the significance of Bikila’s legacy and the impact he made on marathon running.
Bikila
Bikila was not training his whole life at elite stadiums and with professional coaches. It should be understood that the legendary champion was born and raised in hopeless poverty in a shepherd’s family on a plateau south of the Ethiopian capital. This area’s name is Oromia; it has many green hills and is not too hot by African standards. Then a huge number of elite marathon runners came out of it. However, Abebe, in childhood, could not have imagined that somewhere in the world, people could run for pleasure or in competitions (Landells, 2020). For thousands of his countrymen, running and walking remained the only possible means of transportation.
It seems reasonable to say that Bikila impacted marathon running significantly. In 1960, no athlete from the East African country won gold. It seemed unlikely that Bikila, a soldier in the Ethiopian army, would be able to resist this trend. That same year, Bikila bought new running shoes for a marathon in Rome. However, when he discovered they were causing him blisters, he ran barefoot along the 26.2-mile track (Landells, 2020). Shocking the whole world, Bikila won that evening in Rome and broke the world record by eight seconds. Such an achievement made all marathon runners find a different way to train and work harder. Here, it is important to note that the 1960 Olympic marathon was the only one in history that was won by a barefoot runner.
The abovementioned facts allow assuming that Bikila created a legacy today. Until he graced the Olympic stage for the first time, athletes from East Africa had never won Olympic gold. Now runners from this region are the dominant force in long-distance running, with Ethiopia itself winning a total of 22 gold medals (Landells, 2020). It is fair to say that many of the famous athletes in the area were inspired by Bikila. By his example, this athlete showed that breaking out of miserable shepherd’s shacks on the Olympic podium is possible. Two-time Olympic champion Haile Gebrselassie and three-time Olympic champion Kenenisa Bekele grew up in Oromiya and many other very venerable marathon runners.
Conclusion
To conclude, the above discussion proved the exceptionalness of Bikila’s legacy and his influence on marathon running. It was found that he was born in a shepherd’s family and raised in a poor region, which did not stop him from winning marathons at the Olympic games. One should explore the biographies of such significant athletes, as their contributions to sports cannot be overestimated. Their legacies are a foundation and inspiration for many generations.
Reference
Landells, S. (2020). Remembering Bikila’s 1960 Olympic marathon victory on its 60th anniversary.World Athletics.