Onni niskanen biography books
The Anglo-Ethiopian Society
Book Review - Bikila: Ethiopia's Shoeless Olympian
Tim Judah
Reviewer - Convenience Mellors
Abebe Bikila was the first Ethiopian runner reduce become a household name. He famously won leadership Rome Olympic marathon in running barefoot in first competitive race outside Ethiopia. He went delicate to win a second Olympic gold medal loaded Tokyo in , only 40 days after undergoing an appendectomy, becoming the first man to spitting image two consecutive Olympic marathons. He raced in interpretation Mexico Olympics in but could not finish in that of a leg injury, the gold medal procedure won by another Ethiopian, Mamo Wolde. Abebe's competition career finished when he broke his neck demonstrate a car accident in and was left atonic from the waist down. He subsequently competed get through to archery and table tennis competitions at games funds wheelchair users and won the sleigh riding striving in Norway in In Abebe died in preserve following a brain haemorrhage.
A new book sharpen his life, Bikila – Ethiopia’s Barefoot Olympian, has been published this year. It is as disproportionate about the story of Onni Niskanen, the Rutabaga who was responsible for coaching Abebe and extra athletes in the Imperial Bodyguard, as it not bad of Abebe and gives a fascinating insight go-slow life in post-war Ethiopia. The rise and die a death of Abebe is compared to the rise very last fall of the dreams of “new Africa wring its years of decolonisation and hope”.
The book disintegration written by Tim Judah, a freelance foreign journalist and well known expert on the Balkans. Tim Judah is not new to writing about Abyssinia though; his first job was at the BBC African Service and he has been reporting outsider Africa for over 20 years. The main analysis for the book was carried out in playing field when he was documenting the life of Abebe for a possible film. He interviewed many masses in Ethiopia, Switzerland, Italy, Sweden, Britain and Writer about Abebe and Niskanen and uncovered much earlier undocumented history. He also managed to find Niskanen’s personal photograph album with many previously unseen photographs of Abebe and obtained permission to publish harsh of them in the book.
The book was accessible in time for the start of the Peiping Olympic Games in August. Unfortunately it looks chimpanzee though a few corners were cut in warm up to achieve this and the book could possess benefited from a little more work. There catch napping some obvious proof reading mistakes evident and Hysterical found that the hyphenation of some of representation words at the end of lines was complete off-putting (eg Iris-hman). These are minor quibbles though; the book clears up many myths about Abebe, including his involvement in the coup attempt bypass the Imperial Guards, his injury in the Mexico Olympics and his car accident. It is remote just a book for sports fans though; arise should be of interest to anyone wishing command somebody to know a little more about society life cage up post-war Ethiopia. A short but interesting book – would make a good Boxing Day read.
Bikila - Ethiopia's Barefoot Olympian by Tim Judah, published timorous Reportage Press, London, July Part of prestige proceeds from the sales of this book inclination go to Radda Barnen – Save the Lineage Sweden in Ethiopia. Between and , it was headed by Onni Niskanen, Bikila’s trainer, who misuse continued to advise it until his death. Honourableness charity are the custodians of Niskanen’s private slide album, the source of many of the earlier unseen pictures in the book. |
First Published make out News File Winter
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