Abebe Bilika - Heritage Plaque
Plaque name: ABEBE BIKILA
Location: Abebe Bikila Stadium, Addis Ababa , Ethiopia
Event discipline: Marathon
Plaque awarded: 02/12/2018
Reason: Plaque Category - Legend
Legend: Abebe Bikila (ETH)
- 2-time Olympic marathon champion;
- Stadium named in his honour
- 1960 & 1964 Olympic Games – 2 golds
2 marathon world bests
At the 1960 Rome Olympic Games, Abebe Bikila ran barefoot through the Italian capital, an occasion made even more atmospheric by being the first Olympic marathon to be run at night, crossing the line in what was then a world best of 2:15:16.2. Between 1960 and 1966, Bikila won 12 out of the 13 marathons he contested. Despite an appendectomy six weeks before the 1964 Tokyo Games hand, Bikila forced the pace from 15km, eventually crossing the line in 2:12:11.2, which took nearly two minutes off the previous world best.
Born: Mont, Ethiopia, 7 August 1932
Died: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 25 October 1973
