Abebe Bikila (Part 2)

Bikila, extremely uncomfortable in the shoes he had been given, decided not to use them at all come race time. Having no idea what Abdesselam looked like, Bikila searched as he ran for bib number 26 as he passed the pack of runners during the course of the race.

Unbeknownst to Bikila, Abdesselam had worn his regular track-and-field number – 185 – because he was unable to find the bib numbered 26. The Ethiopian had been running beside the Moroccan championship winner whilst he looked forward to searching for him.

He had no idea then that his biggest competition was actually struggling to keep up with him as he raced towards the finish line.

The pair managed to stay neck-and-neck with each other until the final stretch of the run, when Bikila, with a final burst of energy, broke into a sprint.

Abdesselam was unable to keep his energy levels up to Bikila’s and faltered.

Eventually, Abebe Bikila was crowned the 1960 Summer Olympics’ marathon gold medal winner. In the process of winning, he also set several records.

He finished the marathon in a record time of 2:15:16.2, faster than any runner till that point in time – the current record, 2:06:32, was set by Kenyan athlete Samuel Kamau Wanjiru at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

In doing so, he also became the first-ever athlete from Sub-Saharan Africa to win an Olympic gold medal, at a time when race relations were still in limbo in several parts of the world. 

Interviewed on the podium after the race, Bikila was asked by a reporter why he chose to run barefoot. Instead of discussing his discomfort, Bikila simply said “I wanted the whole world to know that my country, Ethiopia, has always won with determination and heroism.”

Moral of the story: We can get many morals from the story. One of it could be when Abebe Bikila decided not to use the extremely uncomfortable shoes which could have hindered his race. In our life, there are many things that can hinder our life "race", for example, bad habits, toxic relationships, bad environment... As Abebe did we should try to remove them or try not to be affected by them. The second moral could be when Abebe was "looking out for number 26" (Abdesselam's bib number). He searched but he couldn't see him, but he didn't feel discouraged and give up, he just kept going with an amazing determination and won the race. From this we could get that we should not feel bad when we are unable to see past the troubles of our life, if we just keep going we will win in our life endeavours.