Abebe Bikila...the first African Olympic Gold medalist...

Mention any distance race today like an Olympic Marathon and it's almost a given that it will be won by someone from either Ethiopia or Kenya. Back in 1960, it was a different story as no African had ever won an Olympic Gold up to that point. All that changed in the Rome Olympics when Abebe Bikila from Ethiopia won the Marathon running barefoot in a time of 2h 15m 16s and became the first African athlete to win a Gold medal. Four years later in the 1964 Tokyo Games, Bikila defended his Olympic title by winning in a new world record time of 2h 12m 11s. Bikila had shown the way  for runners from East Africa and today, they tend to dominate all of the distance events.


Over the weekend, Ian O'Riordan from the Irish Times had an interesting piece on Abebe Bikila HERE

Rome to pull out of 2020 Olympic bid...

According to Italian media reports, Rome is pulling out of the race for the 2020 Olympics after careful evaluation of the costs and benefits involved. Bidders must lodge required guarantees with the International Olympic Committee by February 15. Rome's decision will leave a field consisting of Baku, Doha, Istanbul, Madrid and Tokyo.

Rome to bid for the 2020 Olympics...

This one reads like an April Fools Joke. On Wednesday (9th Nov 2011), the Rome Olympic bid committee approved a 31 million Euro budget to bid for the 2020 Olympic Games.

Following a meeting between bid Chairman and International Olympic Committee (IOC) Vice President Mario Pescante, Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno, and others, the committee said hosting the Olympics would bring economic and development benefits "for Rome and the entire country". Rome 2020 officials reportedly said they are still working on a parliamentary motion supporting the bid, and have already confirmed that the government will help compile a bid file that must be submitted to the IOC by February 15. Officials now say if Rome is awarded the Games, the Olympic budget would be about five billion euros, down from projections of nine billion euros earlier this year.

You really have to wonder what planet these guys are living on? Italy has trouble borrowing enough money to service the debts they already have and now they want to spend €5 Billion on the Olympics!

By the way, the 2004 Olympic games in Athens cost somewhere between 6 and 10 billion Euro depending on who you believe and was way over budget.

Rome is competing with Madrid, Tokyo, Istanbul, Doha, Qatar and Baku for the 2020 Games.