---
name: "Abebe Bikila"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/abebe-bikila"
fi1m_id: "abebe-bikila"
imdb_id: "nm0082069"
tmdb_id: 143023
wikidata_id: "Q52596"
roles: []
born: "7 August 1932"
died: "25 October 1973"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 81
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-09-26T15:45:51.464218+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Abebe Bikila

## Identity

Abebe Bikila

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/abebe-bikila
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** abebe-bikila
- **IMDb ID:** nm0082069
- **TMDB ID:** 143023
- **Wikidata ID:** Q52596
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abebe_Bikila, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q52596, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0082069/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/143023

Actor. Born 7 August 1932 in Jato, Ethiopia. Died 25 October 1973.

## Details

- **Born:** 7 August 1932, Jato, Ethiopia
- **Died:** 25 October 1973
- **Also known as:** Shambel Abebe Bikila, ሻምበል አበበ ቢቂላ
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1960s 88 (1), 1970s 74 (1)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abebe_Bikila, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q52596, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0082069/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/143023

## Streaming the US now

- **HBO Max:** [*Tokyo Olympiad*](https://film.one/film/tokyo-olympiad.md) (88)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Abebe Bikila, also credited as Shambel Abebe Bikila, was an Ethiopian marathon runner and occasional film subject. Born on 7 August 1932 in Jato, Ethiopia, he joined the Imperial Guard and began competitive running in his mid-twenties.

He won the Olympic marathon gold medal in Rome in 1960, running barefoot, and successfully defended the title in Tokyo in 1964, setting a world record on both occasions. He appeared as himself in the documentary *Tokyo Olympiad* (1965). Bikila died on 25 October 1973 in Addis Ababa following complications from a 1969 car accident.

*Sources: britannica.com, olympedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *Marathon Man* (1976), Fi1m 74, as Self (archive footage) (uncredited) — [page](https://film.one/film/marathon-man.md)
- *Tokyo Olympiad* (1965), Fi1m 88, as Self — [page](https://film.one/film/tokyo-olympiad.md)

## Gallery

- ![Abebe Bikila](https://film.one/media/person/459594/gallery-a95d3336166f.jpg) Abebe Bikila — Jack de Nijs for Anefo, CC BY-SA 3.0 nl, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/Olympic_runner_Abebe_Bikila_%281968%29.jpg/1280px-Olympic_runner_Abebe_Bikila_%281968%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Abebe Bikila vince la maratona ai Giochi olimpici di Roma del 1960Bikila, Abebe](https://film.one/media/person/459594/gallery-f282536cdccd.jpg) Abebe Bikila vince la maratona ai Giochi olimpici di Roma del 1960Bikila, Abebe — UnknownUnknown, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Abebe_Bikila_maratona_olimpica_Roma_1960_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Abebe Bikila](https://film.one/media/person/459594/gallery-8663e385af66.jpg) Abebe Bikila — Jack de Nijs for Anefo, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Abebe_Bikila_1968c.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Abebe Bikila in Amsterdam (1968)](https://film.one/media/person/459594/gallery-fe57ef5ecf34.jpg) Abebe Bikila in Amsterdam (1968) — Anefo

Derivative work MagentaGreen, CC BY-SA 3.0 nl, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/82/Abebe_Bikila_1968_%28b_retouched%29.jpg/1280px-Abebe_Bikila_1968_%28b_retouched%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Barry Magee (right) and Abebe Bikila at the 1960 Olympics](https://film.one/media/person/459594/gallery-d94e90446d39.jpg) Barry Magee (right) and Abebe Bikila at the 1960 Olympics — Unknown authorUnknown author (ANSA.it), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/Abebe_Bikila%2C_Barry_Magee_1960.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![IL MONELLO OLIMPIADI CENTO MEDAGLIE 1972 n.6 BIKILA , Figurina Calciatori NEW](https://film.one/media/person/459594/gallery-c4e6b268232e.jpg) IL MONELLO OLIMPIADI CENTO MEDAGLIE 1972 n.6 BIKILA , Figurina Calciatori NEW — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Abebe_Bikila%2C_1972_card.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)

## Awards

### Other awards — 2 won

- Silver Olympic Order 1984: Silver Olympic Order (won)
- BBC World Sport Star of the Year 1964: BBC World Sport Star of the Year (won)

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/abebe-bikila