A tale of Ethiopian glee and misery

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – Ethiopia and the Olympics have been intertwined for more than half a century. Particularly, Ethiopia and the testing marathon have extraordinary ties. Whenever there is marathon race, Ethiopia’s name is mentioned.

Apart from that Ethiopia’s name is inseparable from-long distance running, particularly 5,000 and 10,000 meters.

Ethiopia first participated in the Olympic Games in 1956 in Melbourne. From then on Ethiopian athletes have been progressing and achieving victories to date. Especially, the 2000 Sydney Olympics brought Ethiopian athletes global fame.

Since 1956 the country has been sending athletes to compete in every Summer Olympic Games except for the 1976 Montreal Games, the 1984 Los Angeles Games and the 1988 Seoul Games.

So far, over 56 years, Ethiopian athletes have won a total of 42 medals, out of which 27 were won by men participants.

Ethiopian medal success was dominated by men ever since the marathon victory of the legendary Abebe Bikila in 1960 in Rome. Eventually, women came to the fore as Derartu Tulu won the 10,000 meters in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics that made her the first black African woman to win an Olympic gold medal. Read full story on the Reporter.