ATHLETE

Abebe Bikila

1932 - 1973

Photo of Abebe Bikila

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Shambel Abebe Bikila (Amharic: ሻምበል አበበ ቢቂላ; August 7, 1932 – October 25, 1973) was an Ethiopian marathon runner who was a back-to-back Olympic marathon champion. He was the first Ethiopian Olympic gold medalist, winning his first gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome while running barefoot. At the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, he won his second gold medal, making him the first athlete to successfully defend an Olympic marathon title. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Abebe Bikila has received more than 1,391,627 page views. His biography is available in 59 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 57 in 2019). Abebe Bikila is the most popular athlete (up from 2nd in 2019), the most popular biography from Ethiopia (up from 2nd in 2019) and the most popular Ethiopian Athlete.

Abebe Bikila is most famous for winning the marathon at the 1960 Olympics in Rome.

Memorability Metrics

  • 1.4M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 71.55

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 59

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 11.93

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 2.78

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among ATHLETES

Among athletes, Abebe Bikila ranks 1 out of 6,025. After him are Paavo Nurmi, Jesse Owens, Emil Zátopek, Bob Beamon, Carl Lewis, Spyridon Louis, Dick Fosbury, Ronnie Coleman, Usain Bolt, Fanny Blankers-Koen, and Javier Sotomayor.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1932, Abebe Bikila ranks 11. Before him are Elizabeth Taylor, Omar Sharif, François Truffaut, Miloš Forman, Johnny Cash, and John Williams. After him are Peter O'Toole, Cesare Maldini, Luc Montagnier, Miriam Makeba, Fernando Botero, and Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiary. Among people deceased in 1973, Abebe Bikila ranks 11. Before him are Salvador Allende, Pablo Neruda, Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden, Erich von Manstein, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Fulgencio Batista. After him are Hans Kelsen, İsmet İnönü, Walter Ulbricht, J. Hans D. Jensen, Ivan Konev, and Ludwig von Mises.

Others Born in 1932

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Others Deceased in 1973

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In Ethiopia

Among people born in Ethiopia, Abebe Bikila ranks 1 out of 105. After him are Haile Selassie (1892), Zewditu (1876), Abraha (600), Menelik II (1844), Mengistu Haile Mariam (1937), Menelik I (-954), Onuphrius (320), Lij Iyasu of Ethiopia (1895), Ismaïl Omar Guelleh (1946), Gebre Mesqel Lalibela (1200), and Sahle-Work Zewde (1950).

Others born in Ethiopia

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Among ATHLETES In Ethiopia

Among athletes born in Ethiopia, Abebe Bikila ranks 1. After him are Haile Gebrselassie (1973), Mamo Wolde (1932), Miruts Yifter (1944), Kenenisa Bekele (1982), Derartu Tulu (1972), Tirunesh Dibaba (1985), Sifan Hassan (1993), Berhane Adere (1973), Addis Abebe (1970), Eshetu Tura (1950), and Fatuma Roba (1973).

Ethiopian born Athletes

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