Mamo Wolde, Juma Ikangaa, Tegla Loroupe, Paul Tergat, and Haile Gebrselassie—all recipients of the New York Road Runners' Abebe Bikila Award—are a few of the athletes who have followed in his footsteps to establish East Africa as a force in long-distance running.

While he was receiving medical treatment in England, Abebe competed in archery and table tennis at the 1970 Stoke Mandeville Games in London.

[15] According to biographer Tim Judah, his entry in the Olympics was a "long planned operation" and not a last-minute decision, as was commonly thought.

[19] A month later he won again in Addis Ababa with a time of 2:21:23, which was faster than the existing Olympic record held by Emil Zátopek.

[24] Due to Rome's blistering heat, the race started in late-afternoon at the foot of the Capitoline Hill staircase[25] and finished at night at the Arch of Constantine, just outside the Colosseum.

[25] When the runners passed the obelisk the first time, Abebe was at the rear of the lead pack, which included Great Britain's Arthur Keily, Moroccan Rhadi Ben Abdesselam, Ireland's Bertie Messitt, and Belgian Aurèle Vandendriessche.

[36] Abebe was paraded through the streets of Addis Ababa along a procession route lined with thousands of people and presented to Emperor Haile Selassie.

[40][41] Fighting took place in the heart of Addis Ababa, shells detonated in the Jubilee Palace, and many of those closest to the Emperor were killed.

He and countryman Mamo Wolde, who finished 12th, had run together on record pace for 18 miles, until cold winds and the hills in Newton caused both to fall back.

Forty days before the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Abebe began to feel pain while training in Debre Zeit.

[54] Abebe began the race right behind the lead pack until about the 10 km (6 mi) mark, when he slowly increased his pace.

[59] Abebe finished with a time of 2:12:11.2,[60] four minutes and eight seconds ahead of silver medallist Basil Heatley of Great Britain, who passed Tsuburaya inside the stadium.

[60] Abebe did not appear exhausted after the finish, and he again performed a routine of calisthenics,[58] which included touching "his toes twice then [lying] down on his back, cycling his legs in the air".

[62] As of the 2024 Olympic marathon in Paris, Abebe, Waldemar Cierpinski, and Eliud Kipchoge are the only athletes to have won two gold medals in the event, and they all did it back-to-back.

[19] In July 1968, he travelled to Germany for treatment of "circulatory ailments" in his legs;[77] the German government refused to accept payment for the medical services.

[78] Seeking a third consecutive gold medal, Abebe entered the October 20 Olympic marathon with Mamo Wolde and Gebru Merawi.

[95] Although he had been invited as a guest, he competed in archery and table tennis and defeated a field of sixteen in cross-country sled dog racing with a time of 1:16:17.

[96] Abebe was invited to the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich as a special guest, and received a standing ovation during the opening ceremony.

[96] His countryman Mamo Wolde did not match his back-to-back Olympic marathon victories,[97] finishing third behind Frank Shorter of the United States and Karel Lismont of Belgium.

[88] On October 25, 1973, Abebe died in Addis Ababa at age 41 of a cerebral hemorrhage, a complication related to his accident four years earlier.

[23][99] He was buried with full military honours; his state funeral was attended by an estimated 65,000 people including Emperor Haile Selassie, who proclaimed a day of mourning for the country's national hero.

[5] According to Kenny Moore, a contemporary athlete and writer for Sports Illustrated, he began "the great African distance running avalanche.

[103][104] Five years after his death, the New York Road Runners inaugurated the annual Abebe Bikila Award for contributions by an individual to long-distance running.

[105] East African recipients include Mamo Wolde, Juma Ikangaa, Tegla Loroupe, Paul Tergat, and Haile Gebrselassie.

[108] In late 1972, the American Community School of Addis Ababa dedicated its gymnasium (which included facilities for disabled people) to Abebe.

[110] A plaque commemorating the anniversary is mounted on a wall on the Via di San Gregorio, and a footbridge in Ladispoli was named in Abebe's honour.

[115][116] Footage from that film was recycled in the 1976 thriller, Marathon Man directed by John Schlesinger and starring Dustin Hoffman.

[103][87] Judah's account of Abebe's life differs significantly from Rambali's,[86] but confirms (and frequently cites) Tsige's biography.

The facts uncovered by Judah point to a less poetic explanation: [Abebe] was last seen in a bar at 9 pm, the roads that night were wet and he was inexperienced behind the wheel.

The film starring Rasselas focuses on the final years of Abebe's life: his quest to regain the Olympic title, the accident and his struggle to compete again.