Abebe Bikila

Abebe Bikila

Abebe Bikila

Abebe Bikila ( Shambel Abebe Bikila) was born August 7, 1932 in Shewa, Ethiopia and He died October 25, 1973 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
His family members include : Yewibdar Giorghis, Teferi Bikila, Yetnayet Abebe Bikila, Dawit Abebe, Tsige Abebe, Bikila Demissie, Widnesh Menberu.
Abebe Bikila was an Ethiopian marathon runner who was a back-to-back Olympic marathon champion. He is the first Ethiopian Olympic gold medalist, winning his and Africa’s first gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome while running barefoot. At the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, he won his second gold medal. Double Olympic champion at the marathon (1960 and 1964) Won 1960 marathon running barefoot. Was a trailblazer for African distance running.