Which Country Produces The Most Gold Medal Marathoners
Ethiopia is the country that has produced the most men’s marathon gold medalists. Abebe Bikila won the Olympic gold medal in Rome in 1960, and then won again at the 1964 Toyko Olympics. Mamo Wolde won Olympic gold in 1968 in Mexico City (he won bronze in 1972 at the Munich Olympics). Finally, Gezahenge Abera won gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics ; he then won gold at the 2001 World Championships.
How does Ethiopia create gold medal marathoners? It begins with the children.
Many Ethiopian children see the gold medalists as heroes, and want to be like them. Ethiopians also see running, not only marathons but shorter distances too, as a way out of poverty. Champions earn great wealth, and are able to make better lives for themselves and their communities.
Many Ethiopians are poor, and children often have to run long distances to and from school. This gets the children used to rigorous training and overcoming hardship. Many children cannot afford running shoes, so they run barefoot; this leads to better running form, and stronger running muscles.
Ethiopian running authorities identify potential champions when they are young, and then formalize the runners’ training. Runners often train as a team. The training takes place at high altitude, and consists of high mileage combined with some hill repeats and speed work; plyometrics is part of the regimen as well. Many runs start slowly and then the pace increases to a very fast finish.
Diet also supports the hard training. Many runners eat meat or vegetable stew, and everyone eats injira bread made from a local grain called teff.
With runners seen as heroes, running seen as a way out of poverty, and running success seen as a source of national pride, expect Ethiopian runners to continue to earn marathon gold.