He won the Olympic marathon without shoes. ‍

Abebe Bikila, the Ethiopian runner who astonished the world, died on October 25, 1973, in Addis Ababa. At the 1960 Rome Olympics, little known outside his country, he ran the marathon barefoot through the city at night and won in a world-best time.

Four years later in Tokyo, just weeks after an appendectomy, he won again, this time in shoes and even faster. He became the first athlete to win two Olympic marathons and Ethiopia's first Olympic champion. After a 1969 car accident left him paralyzed, he still went on to compete in archery and other sports.

Why it still matters: he opened the door for generations of East African distance runners.

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