Mamo Wolde 1932-2002
Kilde: Ultramarayhon World
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (UW) - When Mamo Wolde died last May 26 at age 69 from a long illness, he had only been free for a few months from the prison where he spent most of the last nine years of his life.
His passing represented a sad final chapter in a story of a great athletic hero who won the Olympic gold medal marathon in 1968 at Mexico, and then came back to claim the bronze four years later - at age 40 - in Munich. He also won the silver medal in the 10,000 metres at Mexico.
A former army captain, Wolde was just 17 days short of his 70th birthday (b. 12 June 1932) when he died.
He was freed from prison in January after spending nine years accused of taking part in the murder of a 15-year-old boy during the years that Ethiopia was ruled by Marxist dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam.
Wolde always maintained that he was innocent but he was never officially cleared. A court found him formally guilty in January and sentenced him to six years. However, he was released because he had already spent three years more than that behind bars, and he returned home, greatly relieved, to his wife and three children.
'Free at last'
"Thank God, I am free at last," he said. "I bear no malice towards anyone," he said, accepting the court's verdict with grace while continuing to maintain that he was not responsible for the boy's death.
Wolde trained with the great Abebe Bikila, who ran barefoot to an Olympic gold medal at the 1960 Olympics in Rome, and returned to defend his title (with shoes) four years later in Tokyo.
Born in a village 40 miles from the capital of Addis Ababa, Wolde was orphaned as a young boy, brought up by a godfather, and eventually recruited into Emperor Haile Selassie's palace guard, where he and Bikila were stationed together.
When he won in 1968 at age 36, giving Ethiopia its third marathon gold medal in a row, he returned home a hero, had songs composed in his honour and was promoted in the palace guard. He remains the only runner over 40 to win an Olympic marathon medal.
Things changed when Haile Selassie was overthrown in a 1974 coup. Wolde remained in the new regime's armed police force, but when it fell in the early 90s, he was among more than 5,000 soldiers and officials who were charged with crimes dating back to the dark years of the late 1970s. One of them was the shooting death of the 15-year-old boy.
Wolde spent most of his last nine years "awaiting trial," and was heartened by international campaign that was mounted to free him. He spent his final few months quietly with his family.
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (UW) - When Mamo Wolde died last May 26 at age 69 from a long illness, he had only been free for a few months from the prison where he spent most of the last nine years of his life.
His passing represented a sad final chapter in a story of a great athletic hero who won the Olympic gold medal marathon in 1968 at Mexico, and then came back to claim the bronze four years later - at age 40 - in Munich. He also won the silver medal in the 10,000 metres at Mexico.
A former army captain, Wolde was just 17 days short of his 70th birthday (b. 12 June 1932) when he died.
He was freed from prison in January after spending nine years accused of taking part in the murder of a 15-year-old boy during the years that Ethiopia was ruled by Marxist dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam.
Wolde always maintained that he was innocent but he was never officially cleared. A court found him formally guilty in January and sentenced him to six years. However, he was released because he had already spent three years more than that behind bars, and he returned home, greatly relieved, to his wife and three children.
'Free at last'
"Thank God, I am free at last," he said. "I bear no malice towards anyone," he said, accepting the court's verdict with grace while continuing to maintain that he was not responsible for the boy's death.
Wolde trained with the great Abebe Bikila, who ran barefoot to an Olympic gold medal at the 1960 Olympics in Rome, and returned to defend his title (with shoes) four years later in Tokyo.
Born in a village 40 miles from the capital of Addis Ababa, Wolde was orphaned as a young boy, brought up by a godfather, and eventually recruited into Emperor Haile Selassie's palace guard, where he and Bikila were stationed together.
When he won in 1968 at age 36, giving Ethiopia its third marathon gold medal in a row, he returned home a hero, had songs composed in his honour and was promoted in the palace guard. He remains the only runner over 40 to win an Olympic marathon medal.
Things changed when Haile Selassie was overthrown in a 1974 coup. Wolde remained in the new regime's armed police force, but when it fell in the early 90s, he was among more than 5,000 soldiers and officials who were charged with crimes dating back to the dark years of the late 1970s. One of them was the shooting death of the 15-year-old boy.
Wolde spent most of his last nine years "awaiting trial," and was heartened by international campaign that was mounted to free him. He spent his final few months quietly with his family.
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