The Athlete
2009 · Movie · 85 min. · Ethiopia
Running the streets of Rome in 1960, an unknown, barefooted Ethiopian man stunned the world by winning Olympic gold in the marathon. Overnight, Abebe Bikila became a sports legend. A hero in his own country and to the continent, Bikila was the first African to win a gold medal, and four years later in Tokyo would become the first person in history to win consecutive Olympic gold medals in the marathon. This soldier and quiet son of a shepherd would be acknowledged by many as the greatest long distance runner the world had ever known. One evening while returning to his home in Addis Ababa from training in the Ethiopian countryside, Bikila was involved in a tragic car accident which left him paralyzed from the waist down. Unable to walk and faced with the greatest challenge of his life, he struggled to maintain his will to live and in the process discovered a deeper meaning of competition...
Direction Davey Frankel · Rasselas Lakew
Cast Rasselas Lakew · Dag Malmberg · Ruta Gedmintas · Abba Waka Dessalegn
Soundtrack Christian Meyer
Screenplay Davey Frankel · Rasselas Lakew · Mikael Aemiro Awake
Cinematography Toby Moore · Philip C. Pfeiffer · Radoslav Spassov · Rodney Taylor
Original title Atletu (The Athlete)
6.3
34 votes (FilmAffinity)
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