Abebe Bikila Abebe Bikila Abebe Bikila (; August 7, 1932 – October 25, 1973) was an Ethiopian marathon runner. A double Olympic marathon champion, he won the first at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome while running barefoot, setting a world record. He is Africa's first world record breaking athlete in any sport and the first sub-Saharan African Olympic gold medallist. At the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Abebe became the first athlete to successfully defend an Olympic marathon title, breaking his own world record in the process. He was a member of the Ethiopian Imperial Guard, an elite infantry division that
Romans in Sub-Saharan Africa Romans in Sub-Saharan Africa Romans in Sub-Saharan Africa were a group of expeditions and explorations to Lake Chad and western Africa. These expeditions were conducted by groups of military and commercial units of Romans who moved across the Sahara and into the interior of Africa and its coast. They occurred between the first and the fourth century AD. The primary motivation for the expeditions was to secure sources of gold and spices. The Romans organized expeditions to cross the Sahara along five different routes: All these expeditions were supported by legionaries and had mainly a commercial purpose. Only the one