Wed, Jul-28-10, 08:14
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Abebe Bikila run barefoot marathon and won...
Quote:
Adidas, the shoe sponsor at the 1960 Summer Olympics, had few shoes left when Bikila went to try out shoes and 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, the way he'd trained for the race. Bikila was warned by Niskanen about his main rivals, one of whom was Rhadi Ben Abdesselam from Morocco, who was supposed to wear number 26. For unknown reasons, Rhadi did not acquire his black marathon bib before the race, and instead was wearing his regularly assigned track and field bib number 185.
The late afternoon race had its start point and finish at the Arch of Constantine, just outside the Colosseum. At the start of the race the Australian Ron Clarke made a comment to Bikila about running barefoot.
During the race Bikila passed numerous runners, looking for the runner with number 26. By about 20 km, Bikila and the runner with number 185 had created a gap from the rest of the pack. Bikila kept looking forward to find the runner with number 26, who unbeknownst to Bikila was running right beside him. They stayed together until the last 500 m, when Abebe sprinted to the finish line. Bikila won in a record time of 2:15:16.2, becoming the first black African to win an Olympic gold medal. He finished 26 seconds ahead of Rhadi.
After the race, when Bikila was asked why he had run barefoot, he replied, “I wanted the world to know that my country, Ethiopia, has always won with determination and heroism."
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abebe_Bikila
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