Top 2 Quotes & Sayings by Abebe Bikila

Explore popular quotes and sayings by an Ethiopian athlete Abebe Bikila.
Last updated on September 19, 2024.
Abebe Bikila

Shambel Abebe Bikila was an Ethiopian marathon runner who was a back-to-back Olympic marathon champion. He is the first Ethiopian Olympic gold medalist, winning his and Africa's first gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome while running barefoot. At the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, he won his second gold medal. In turn, he became the first athlete to successfully defend an Olympic marathon title. In both victories, he ran in world record time.

Men of success meet with tragedy. It was the will of God that I won the Olympics, and it was the will of God that I met with my accident. I accepted those victories as I accept this tragedy. I have to accept both circumstances as facts of life and live happily.
I wanted the world to know that my country Ethiopia has always won with determination and heroism. — © Abebe Bikila
I wanted the world to know that my country Ethiopia has always won with determination and heroism.
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