If the word ‘legend’ has to be defined then the best example to convey the full meaning of the term is the Ethiopian, Abebe Bikila. When the ebony-hued imperial guard of the Emperor, Haile Selassie, won the second marathon gold at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, he became the first man to win two marathons.
Born on August 7, 1932, the day when the marathon was run at the Los Angles Olympics, Bikila was picked up for the gruelling event by the Finnish coach Onni Niskanen. Actually, his entry into the 1960 Rome Olympics was by accident. He was called up after the established runner Biratu opted out having sustained an ankle injury in a football match.
What the chroniclers recall is the fact that Bikila ran barefoot the distance that late afternoon in the historic city, and how he surged into an incredible sprint in the last 200 metres to leave the field battered and baffled. Bikila clocked a record 2:15:16.2 and became the first ever African to win a gold medal in the Olympics.
From an indigent bodyguard, Bikila became the icon of the poverty ridden Ethiopia. Not only in his home country but across the globe wherever a marathon was run, Bikila’s name figured prominently.
A certainty for the 1964 Olympics, Bikila had suffered a setback with just 40 days remaining for the Games. Only after he collapsed in training it was known that he required an emergency appendix surgery. The fear that he may not be able to compete loomed large, but the gallant Bikila showed his class as he finished ahead in front of the 70,000 spectators at the main stadium with a time of 2:12:11.2. What more, after that fantastic run, he resorted to such callisthenics that showed his unbelievable energy and fitness.
Promoted in the hierarchy of the Emperor’s bodyguards, Bikila was gifted a Volkswagen Beetle, which later turned out to be the cause of a tragedy for this great athlete. After his third Olympics in Mexico, where his race ended after the 17th mile, Bikila suffered a huge blow in 1969 when his Beetle was involved in an accident. The mishap paralysed him for life. He underwent surgery but that did not work.
As a special guest at the 1972 Munich Olympics, Bikila enjoyed watching compatriot Mamo Wolde win the gold medal.
Life ebbed out of this great warrior on October 25, 1973 at the age of 41.
“I wanted the world to know that my country, Ethiopia, has always won with determination and heroism,” Bikila thundered after his victory in Rome. Today, Bikila is only memory, and a stadium in Addis Ababa stands as a monument symbolising the spirit and the achievement of the man who put Ethiopia on the world map of athletics.
S.Thyagarajan
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