In 1960 and 1964, Abebe Bikila from Ethiopia won both Olympic Marathons, breaking the existing world record at each race. In 1960, Bikila famously ran WITHOUT SHOES as the shoes he had with him were too uncomfortable. Although he was barefoot, Bikila ran a time of 2:15.16, breaking the world record in the marathon by 8 tenths of a second!

Bikila's second world record run, which took place in the 1964 Olympic Marathon, broke the previous world record by almost 2 minutes as it took the record from 2:13.55 to 2:11.12!

Bikila will forever be remembered as the original East African Olympic Icon, and although he tragically passed away at the age of 41, his memory will forever live on.

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