1960 Summer Olympics - Rome, Italy.
Abebe Bikila Bekele is beyond a legend, and I'm still trying to understand whyyy mom and dad never told me about him...This man ran in the Olympics as a substitute runner for Team Ethiopia, only to break a world record barefoot! Adidas, the team's sponsor, typically supplied a limited number of shoes... so as the last-minute sub, for an injured star player, Bekele was forced to chose from the left-over stash. None of the kicks fit comfortably, so Bekele opted to run as he trained - barefoot. Legend has it that just minutes before the start gun sounded, opponents and team mates asked him what the hell he was doing...but he assuredly brushed them off. LOL His defying performance made him the first black African to win a gold medal, and led to the debut of our National anthem on the Olympic stage.
When asked why he ran barefoot, after the race... “I wanted the world to know that my country, Ethiopia, has always won with determination and heroism." ((BUULLET!!))
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