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LOGO Calendar 2026 – February: Abebe Bikila
The historic victory of Abebe Bikila at the 1960 Summer Olympics marked an epic turning point in sport. By winning the gold medal in the marathon in Rome, Bikila became the first African athlete to win an Olympic gold – but what made his achievement truly immortal was the way he did it.
Rome 1960 – the night that lit up a continent
It was 10 September 1960, a warm Roman evening. For the first time, the 42 km Olympic marathon was run at night, among torches and floodlights illuminating the wonders of the capital.
Among the many athletes, no one paid attention to number 11, an Ethiopian runner with hollow cheeks and a determined gaze.
Abebe Bikila was 28 years old, a member of the Imperial Guard of Haile Selassie, and he had started running only four years earlier. Trained by the Swede Onni Niskanen, Bikila had secured his place in Rome by dominating the military championships in Ethiopia.
A marathon run barefoot
The race started from the Capitoline Hill at sunset. Bikila positioned himself at the back of the group, then gradually began to move forward with a smooth and light stride. The crowd was left speechless – the Ethiopian ran barefoot, like a warrior from his highlands.
As his stride lengthened, those bare feet seemed to transform him into a hero emerging from ancient times. The night was coloured by his red vest. The Abyssinian policeman crossed the finish line beneath the Arch of Constantine with a 25-second lead and set a new world record – an extraordinary feat: the record time of 2h 15’16” had been achieved without shoes.
At the finish he was still in excellent condition – not gasping, not collapsing. Instead, he calmly carried out a few relaxation exercises, as if he had been running for only a few minutes. It was the first Olympic gold for Ethiopia and for all of sub-Saharan Africa – a symbolic triumph for a continent emerging from its colonial past. When journalists asked him why he had run barefoot, Bikila replied: “I wanted the world to know that my country has always won with determination and heroism.”
Behind that epic gesture, however, there was also a practical reason – the shoes given to him the day before had been too tight. So he decided to run without them, a choice that secured his place in history.
Witnesses later swore that after the race all sorts of things were removed from those feet – even splinters of glass and wood.
Rome 1960 Olympics – what happened next?
In Ethiopia, Bikila was welcomed as a national hero – promoted to sergeant, he received a house and honours from the Negus.
But the champion did not stop there. Four years later, at the Tokyo Olympics, he returned to competition, this time wearing shoes, and wrote another page of history.
The romantic myth of the wild runner was about to fade – it had become clear that behind his extraordinary ease lay meticulous, scientific preparation that left nothing to chance. The Ethiopian dominated the race – finishing four minutes ahead of the runner-up – and shattered his own world record, despite having undergone an appendicitis operation only a month earlier and being unable to train properly.
Injury, rebirth and an eternal legacy
At the Mexico City Olympics in 1968, Bikila was forced to withdraw at the 17th kilometre because of a sprain.
Shortly afterwards, fate presented him with a far more tragic reckoning. On the evening of 25 March 1969, while returning through the fog in Addis Ababa, he lost control of his car and plunged down an embankment. He was found the following morning, still unconscious and paralysed in the legs.
Yet even from his wheelchair, Bikila never ceased to be a symbol of strength. He took part in Paralympic competitions, winning in archery and table tennis, demonstrating once again that determination could overcome every limit. When, in August 1972 – heavier and greyer – he attended the opening parade of the Munich Olympic Games, he swore that he would never again set foot in an athletics stadium. As if there could be no life without the Olympics, the following year the superman of long-distance running died at the age of 41 after a stroke.
“Outwardly I am a man, but inside I feel like a horse – one of those thoroughbreds that live to run.”