Overview

Abebe Bikila was the first black African to win an Olympic gold medal. He won the marathon running barefoot in Rome in 1960 and won again wearing shoes in Tokyo in 1964, becoming the first person to win the most gruelling of all human contests twice. Born into bitter poverty in rural Ethiopia in 1932, at sixteen Bikila joined the Imperial Guard of the Emperor Haile Selassie. It was there that he came to the notice of the Swedish athletics coach Onni Niskanen, whom Selassie had engaged to try and raise his country?s profile through sport. Bikila became the focus of these ambitions ? and an unwitting figurehead for black African nationalism. Following the 1960 Olympics, Bikila?s life took a dramatic turn when he was implicated in a failed coup against Selassie. Bikila was initially sentenced to death but was eventually pardoned following Niskanen?s intervention. Despite an attack of appendicitis, Bikila recovered in time to win the Olympic marathon once again. Bikila died in 1973.

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9781852429041

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?This really is a surprise? It seems that the two Europeans have surrendered the lead to two unknown runners. A Moroccan, Rhadi, is in the lead with an Ethiopian hard on his heels. It?s an astonishing sight, I must say: the Ethiopian, Abebe Bikila, is racing barefoot!? Commentary, Olympic Games marathon, Rome, 1960 ?Rambali brings the athletes, coaches, soldiers and their peculiar monarch beautifully to life in this strange, sad tale. No doubt the author did a massive amount of research; no doubt he has a terrific imagination: I reckon the book is a fruitful combination of the two? Daily Telegraph ?Poignant? about far more than Bikila?s exploits on the track? Time Out ?A fiercely compelling journey? Truly inspirational stuff? Big Issue ?Paul Rambali delivers engrossing accounts of the Byzantine intrigues at Selassie?s court? strong on documentary detail? It is impossible to remain unmoved by his accounts of the two great Olympic feats? Independent ?I couldn?t help but be swept along by Barefoot Runner? an excellent book and presents a striking and original portrait of a true sporting legend? Catholic Herald ?Impressive... has a novelistic depth of detail that manages to evoke the edgy atmosphere of a country at once in thrall to its spiritual leader and yet suffering increasing hunger and privation... It manages to illuminate something of what it must have felt like for Bikila.. to strive for an achieve deeds which are part of Olympic legend... This is no ordinary book and, if the genre is a little risky, the quality and thoroughness with which the enterprise is undertaken carry the day? Independent (sport section)

'This really is a surprise... It seems that the two Europeans have surrendered the lead to two unknown runners. A Moroccan, Rhadi, is in the lead with an Ethiopian hard on his heels. It's an astonishing sight, I must say: the Ethiopian, Abebe Bikila, is racing barefoot!' Commentary, Olympic Games marathon, Rome, 1960

Author Information

Paul Rambali is a writer and broadcaster and was a rock journalist for the NME during the punk era and editor of The Face from 1980-1987. The author of two books about France and works including It's All True - In the Cities and Jungles of Brazil, a personal odyssey exploring issues of development and culture in the Third World, he also ghost-wrote Phoolan Devi, the autobiography of India's Bandit Queen, which has been published in 26 countries. He now lives in Paris.

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