Abdi Bile
Abdi Bile is a former middle distance runner. He holds the highest number of national records in athletics in Somalia across various disciplines. He is currently Somalia's national record holder in nine athletic disciplines, and is thus far Somalia's most decorated athlete in history.
In 1987, he became 1987 [World Championships in Athletics – Men's 1500 metres|world champion] in the 1500 metres, the first Somali to do so. 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.
Early life
Bile was born in Las Anod, Somalia. He was raised with fourteen siblings, in a nomadic society. He completed high school in Erigavo. He began competitive running after hearing of the Somali runner Jamac Karacin, a scholarship recipient in the US. As a youth he was very interested in football/soccer.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 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 and two-time world Grand Prix final champion.Bile graduated from George Mason University with a BSc in marketing management. At George Mason, Bile was team captain and a two-time NCAA Division I 1,500-metre champion, winning his first title in 1985 and the second in 1987. 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, 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. In 1996 he finished sixth in the Olympic 1500 final. As of the 2020s, Bile has the 17th fastest 1,000-metre race of all time with a time of 2:14.50.