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He was the first Ethiopian Olympic gold medalist, winning his first gold medal at the Summer Olympics in Rome while running barefoot. In both victories, he ran in world record time. Born in Shewa , Abebe moved to Addis Ababa around and joined the 5th Infantry Regiment of the Ethiopian Imperial Guard , an elite infantry division that safeguarded the emperor of Ethiopia.

Abebe served in the Kagnew Battalion during the Korean War. Enlisting as a soldier before his athletic career, he rose to the rank of shambel captain. Abebe participated in a total of sixteen marathons.

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He placed second on his first marathon in Addis Ababa, won twelve other races, and finished fifth in the Boston Marathon. In July , he sustained the first of several sports-related leg injuries that prevented him from finishing his last two marathons. Abebe was a pioneer in long-distance running. On March 22, , Abebe was paralysed due to a car accident.

He regained some upper-body mobility, but he never walked again. While he was receiving medical treatment in England, Abebe competed in archery and table tennis at the Stoke Mandeville Games in London. Those games were an early predecessor of the Paralympic Games. He competed in both sports at a competition for disabled people in Norway and won its cross-country sleigh-riding event.

Abebe died at age 41 in of a cerebral haemorrhage related to his accident four years earlier.