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Abebe Bikila OBITUARY Abebe Bikila, the Ethiopian athlete, who won gold medals for the marathon in successive Olympic Games, died yesterday at the age of 46. Neil Allen, Athletics Corres- pondent, writes: Abebe Bikila was the first of the great ath- letes of Africa to make their mark on the Olympoic Games. His victory in the 1960 marathon in Rome was completely un- expected. Even those who ha,d noted, from the entry list, that this unknown Ethiopian had a best time of 2hr 21min, did not believe he could be a serious threat. Bikila, then a memAber of the household guard to Emperor Haile Selassie, gained his vic- tory in Rome by pulling away in the last 1,000 metres after advice from his coach to leave his offort late.What struck the press, waiting by the floodlit Arch of Constantine, was that his final barefoot steps were taken along the Appian Way, up which his Ethiopian ances- tors had been brought as priso- ners of the Roman Empire. In fact Bikila's father had fought as a guerrilla against the troops of Mussolini in the 1930s. Four years later, in Tokyo. we saw Bikila again become Olym- pic marathon champion, this time wearing warm up shoes; and so determined to prove his freshness at the end of the tradi- tional 26 miles 385 yards that he went through a series of physical jerks, to the delight of the crowd, after he had crossed the line. Bikila won that second gold medal on October 21, 1964. On September 16 he had had his appendix removed. Yet his win- ning tme of 2hr 12min 11.2sec in Tokyo was then the fastest ever achieved for the classic event. Bikila competed in his third Olympics in Mexico in 1968 with- out wvinning any medal. He was forced to drop out and instead had to concentrate on the first place of his countryman. Mamo Wolde. The next year came tragedy. Bikila was injured so seriously in a car accident that he became paralysed. Even after treatment at Stoke Mandeville, he was con- fined to a wheelchair. His true fighting spirit was underlined when he took up archery and competed in the paraplegic Olympics. Now, at only 46, this quiet, lean man has finished the good fight. ABEBE BIKILA First of the great African Olympic athletes
