Nothing is impossible. Abebe Bikila the marathon runner with no shoes

“Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. Impossible is nothing.”

A fighter all his life, Muhammad Ali became a modern icon. Ten years younger than Cassius Clay, Abebe Bikila was born to a poor family in Ethiopia. Today, 57 years ago, he also proved that nothing is impossible.

ABEBE BIKILA RUN BAREFOOT INTO HISTORY IN ROME

After winning the National Armed Forces Championship marathon competition, Bikila joined the 1960 Olympics in Rome.

Small, lean, barefooted, in bright red shorts and a green vest sporting the number 11, Bikila came out on top at the Olympic marathon in 2 hours, 15 minutes and 16.2 seconds, stunning the world.

“Ethiopia’s runner was the first black African to win an Olympic gold medal and he did it without wearing shoes,” the BBC remembers us.

WHEELCHAIR DIDN’T STOP HIM

The story goes on. After grabbing a second Olympic gold medal in 1964, Bikila met with tragedy.

He was paralyzed after a car accident.

“His love for sports did not falter. As a paraplegic athlete, he competed in the International Paraplegic Games in Norway and many other such events,” The Famous People comments on his life.

NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE

Few could have predicted his success at the 1960 Olympic Games in Italy. “I wanted the world to know that my country Ethiopia has always won with determination and heroism,” said the barefoot runner. Nothing is impossible.

@filippo_poletti

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