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In 1960, on a warm night in Rome, a barefoot son of a shepherd stunned the world and made history for Africa.<\/b><\/p>\n
That evening, the streets of the city were lined with spectators cheering for the marathon runners competing in the Olympic Games.<\/p>\n
Along the road, Italian soldiers held torches to light the way as an Ethiopian runner named Abebe Bikila sprinted towards the finish line.<\/p>\n
For most of the course, Bikila, in red satin shorts and a black vest, had been level with the marathon favourite, Rhadi Ben Abdesselam from Morocco.<\/p>\n
Then, with less than a mile to go, he began to pull away from his competitor. He sprinted towards the finish, raising his hands in triumph as he crossed the line.<\/p>\n
Not only had he come first in the race, Bikila was also the first black African and the first Ethiopian to win a gold medal at the Games.<\/p>\n
In doing so, he set a new world record of two hours, 15 minutes and 16 seconds.<\/p>\n
It was a shock triumph, not just because Bikila was a complete unknown but because he had run the entire length of the race barefoot.<\/p>\n
Bikila had made the decision to do so because his running shoes were worn and he feared a new pair would cause blisters.<\/p>\n
\u201cNormally champions rise up the rankings and so when they get to the top they are known, but Bikila was utterly unknown,\u201d says Tim Judah, the British writer of a book about the runner.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo this compounded the shock – a barefoot African winning the marathon.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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