On 10 September 1960 Abebe Bikila, an Ethiopian, won the Rome Olympic marathon running barefoot. He was the first black African to win a gold medal at the Olympics. Overnight he became a
sporting hero, an African hero and for many the first black African they had ever heard of. Bikila was a man of his times - a symbol of hope in the new Africa.
Now, for the first time, his true story is told. Central to that tale is the extraordinary life of another man - a Swede - Onni Niskanen, Bikila's trainer, a soldier and an adventurer. Together
they took the sporting world by storm. Bikila was the athlete and the champion but Niskanen was the architect of his success. Theirs was a most unlikely of friendships, yet their achievement
dazzled the world.
Tim Judah's research took him to Ethiopia, Rome, Sweden and Switzerland, where he interviewed those who knew Bikila and Niskanen. Much of their story has never been revealed until now.
