Rome to name street after Bikila
Barefoot 1960 marathon winner to be honoured
10 March, 15:49
(ANSA) - Rome, March 10 - Rome is to name a street after
Abebe Bikila, the Ethiopian runner who won the Rome marathon
barefoot in 1960."We're still looking for the most appropriate place to commemorate Bikila's legendary feat," said Rome Culture and Sport Commission President Federico Mollicone.
Mollicone said the street would be named by the end of the year, the 50th anniversary of the groundbreaking run when Bikila became the first Black African to win an Olympic marathon.
Bikila amazed viewers worldwide with his barefoot exploit on the 1960 circuit, much of it on Rome's notoriously bumpy 'sanpietrini' cobblestones.
His win in what was the world's first widely televised Games was followed four years later in Tokyo, where he used shoes.
Bikila died of a brain haemorrhage in 1973 at the age of 41, a consequence of a bad road smash five years earlier.
The proposed Rome street plaque will read: "Abebe Bikila, athlete, 1932-1973".
