In 1960, on a heat evening in Rome, a barefoot son of a shepherd shocked the world and made historical past for Africa.
That night, the streets of town had been lined with spectators cheering for the marathon runners competing within the Olympic Video games.
Alongside the street, Italian troopers held torches to gentle the way in which as an Ethiopian runner named Abebe Bikila sprinted in the direction of the end line.
For a lot of the course, Bikila, in pink satin shorts and a black vest, had been degree with the marathon favorite, Rhadi Ben Abdesselam from Morocco.
Then, with lower than a mile to go, he started to drag away from his competitor. He sprinted in the direction of the end, elevating his arms in triumph as he crossed the road.
Not solely had he come first within the race, Bikila was additionally the primary black African and the primary Ethiopian to win a gold medal on the Video games.
In doing so, he set a brand new world document of two hours, quarter-hour and 16 seconds.
It was a shock triumph, not simply because Bikila was a whole unknown however as a result of he had run all the size of the race barefoot.
Bikila had made the choice to take action as a result of his trainers had been worn and he feared a brand new pair would trigger blisters.
“Usually champions stand up the rankings and so after they get to the highest they’re identified, however Bikila was completely unknown,” says Tim Judah, the British author of a e book in regards to the runner.
“So this compounded the shock – a barefoot African profitable the marathon.”
