Abdi Bile

Abdi Bile
Abdi Bile
Personal information
NationalitySomali
Born (1962-12-28) 28 December 1962 (age 61)
Las Anod, Sool, Somali Republic (Somalia)
Height1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight75 kg (165 lb)
Sport
SportTrack
Event(s)800m, 1500m, mile, 3000m
College teamGeorge Mason
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)800m: 1:43.60[1]
1500m: 3:30.55[1]
Mile: 3:49.40[1]
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  Somalia
World Championships in Athletics
Gold medal – first place 1987 Rome 1500 m
Bronze medal – third place 1993 Stuttgart 1500 m
Goodwill Games
Silver medal – second place 1994 Saint Petersburg 1 mile
African Championships
Silver medal – second place 1985 Cairo 1500 m
Representing Africa
IAAF World Cup
Gold medal – first place 1989 Barcelona 1500 m

Abdi Bile (Somali: Cabdi Bile Cabdi, Arabic: عبد بلي عبد; born 28 December 1962) is a former middle distance runner. He holds the highest number of national records in athletics in Somalia across various disciplines.[2] He is currently Somalia's national record holder in nine athletic disciplines, and is thus far Somalia's most decorated athlete in history.[note 1]

In 1987, he became world champion in the 1500 metres, the first Somali to do so.[3] Bile ran the final 800m of the race in 1:46.0, which as of the 2020s, remains the fastest latter half in the history of the 1500m track race. During the semi-finals of the same championships, on 4 September 1987, he set a championship record with a time of 3:35.67 which lasted until 1 September 1991, when broken by Noureddine Morceli.

He defeated Britain's Sebastian Coe at the 1500m to win gold at the 1989 World Continental Cup. He also won silver at the same event in the 1985 African Championships in Cairo. In 1996 he represented Somalia at the 1996 Summer Olympics for the 1500 meters. His brother, Jama Bile, ran competitively for Northern Arizona University. His son Ahmed Bile ran competitively for Georgetown University.

  1. ^ a b c IAAF. "Athlete profile for Abdi Bile".
  2. ^ Jones, Thomas W., et al. "Influence of a concurrent strength and endurance training intervention on running performance in adolescent endurance athletes: An observational study." (2018).
  3. ^ Janofsky, Michael (8 May 1998). "OLYMPIC PROFILE: Abdi Bile; Running as a Nation Watches". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 March 2013.


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