Ethiopia has 31 Olympic medals and all have been won in distance events in athletics. The first was Abebe Bikila, who won gold running barefoot in the Rome marathon. Then four years later, in shoes, became the first dual Olympic marathon champion. Then came two great names of distance running, Mamo Wolde and Miruts Yifter, who both won three Olympic medals across two Games.
In 1992 Derartu Tulu became the first black African women to win an Olympic medal when she won the 10,000m. Eight years later in Sydney, she again won the 10,000m to become the first woman to win two gold medals in Olympic distance events. She won a bronze medal in Athens in 2004.
In 1996 multiple world record holder, Haile Gebrselassie won an exciting 10,000m ahead of Kenya's Paul Tergat. The pair renewed their rivalry in Sydney and it proved to be an even more thrilling race. In a sprint for the line, Gebrselassie edged Tergat by just 0.09s, one of the closest ever finishes in a distance event. |