Abdi Bile

Abdi Bile

Personal information
Nationality	Somali
Born	(1962-12-28) 28 December 1962 Las Anod, Sool
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	75 kg (165 lb)
Sport
Sport	Track
Event(s)	800 metres, 1500 metres, Mile, 3000 metres
College team	George Mason
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	800 metres: 1:43.60[1] 1500 metres: 3:30.55[1] Mile: 3:49.40[1]
Medal record Men’s athletics Competitor for  Somalia World Championships in Athletics 1987 Rome 1500 m 1993 Stuttgart 1500 m

Abdi Bile (Somali: Cabdi Bille Cabdi, Arabic: عبد الله بلي عبد الله‎‎; born 28 December 1962) is a former middle distance runner who holds multiple Somali national records for various athletics disciplines. In 1987, he became world champion in the 1500 metres, the first Somali to do so.^[2] 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 runs for Georgetown University.

Early life

He was born in Las Anod, Somalia.^[3] Abdi Bile grew up in a society where most of people were nomadic. He finished his high school in a school located in Erigavo. Abdi Bile started running when he first heard of the Somali runner Jamac Karacin who got scholarship into the US. This was when running became his hobby.^[4] When Abdi was a kid he was very interested in football or soccer. Abdi Bile was a great runner but not the only runner in his family. There were many of his other siblings who were interested in running at that time.^[2]

Running career

Bile won the 1500 m World Championship in 1987, running the final 800 m of the race in 1:46.00, the fastest final 800 m of any 1,500 metre race in history. He was a two-time Olympian (1984 and 1996) and dominated the event in the late 1980s. Bile was ranked first in the world at the mile distance in 1989. He was World Cup champion in the 1500 m in 1989^[3] and two-time world Grand Prix final champion.

Bile graduated from George Mason University with a BSc in marketing management.^[3] At George Mason, Bile was team captain and a two-time NCAA Division I 1,500 metre champion, winning his first title in 1985 (3:41.20) and the second in 1987 (3:35.79). He also won many conference titles and held the inter-collegiate 1500 m record for more than ten years.

He was coached by John Cook,^[2] the former coach of 2008 Olympic 10,000 metre bronze medalist Shalane Flanagan. His career was riddled with injuries, and he missed the 1991 World Championships as well as the 1988 and 1992 Olympics because of such problems.^[3] In 1996 he finished sixth in the Olympic 1500 m final.^[3]

Achievements

Personal life

Bile has traveled widely and has inspired many young people and helped several humanitarian organizations.^[3] He is married, with a son and daughter named Ahmed, born in 1993 and Majda, born 1988. As a senior in high school, Ahmed won the Virginia state cross country title,^[3] the 1000m title and 1600m title along with being a two-time New Balance All-American in the 800m.

References

External links

• Abdi Bile profile at IAAF

Olympic Games
Preceded by Mohamed Aboker Aboukar Hassan Adani	Flagbearer for  Somalia Los Angeles 1984 Atlanta 1996	Succeeded by Aboukar Hassan Adani Ibrahim Mohamed Aden