Abdi Bile ( so, Cabdi Bile Cabdi, ar, عبد بلي عبد ; born 28 December 1962) is a former middle distance runner. He holds the highest number of

national records National Records was a record label that was started in New York City by Albert Green in 1945 and lasted until early 1951. Big Joe Turner was signed at the beginning and remained until 1947. Billy Eckstine was also a big seller for the label as w ...

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

world champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athle ...

, 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 Noureddine Morceli ( ar, نور الدين مرسلي, ''Nūr ud-Dīn Mursilī''; born February 28, 1970) is a retired Algerian middle-distance runner. He was the winner of the 1500 metres at the 1996 Summer Olympics and won three straight gold me ...

. 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 Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

. 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 Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

Early life

He was born in

Las Anod Las Anod ( so, Laascaanood; ar, لاسعانود) is the administrative capital of the Sool, Somaliland, Sool region of Somaliland. Territorial dispute The city is disputed by Puntland and Somaliland. The former bases its claim due to the ki ...

, Somalia and hails from the

Dhulbahante The Dhulbahante ( so, Dhulbahante, ar, دلبةنتئ) is a Somali clan family, part of the Harti clan which itself belongs to the largest Somali clan-family — the Darod. They are the traditional inhabitants of the physiographic Nugaal in its ...

sub-clan. Abdi Bile grew up in a society where most of people were nomadic. He finished his high school in a school located in

Erigavo Erigavo ( so, Ceerigaabo, ), also spelled as Erigabo, is the capital and largest city of the Sanaag region of Somaliland. History The Erigavo settlement is several centuries old. The surrounding area was supposedly built by the Madigan Dir. ...

. 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. When Abdi was a kid he was very interested in football/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.

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 1989Abdi Bile Returns to Somalia
Running Times 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 (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, the former coach of 2008 Olympic 10,000-metre bronze medalist

Shalane Flanagan Shalane Grace Flanagan (born July 8, 1981) is an American long-distance runner, Olympic medalist and New York City Marathon champion. She was the first American woman to win the New York City Marathon since 1977. She holds the NACAC area reco ...

. 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 m final. As of the 2020s, Bile has the 17th fastest kilometer race of all time with a time of 2:14.50.

Achievements

Awards and national records

Bile has won gold medals in the 1987 World Championships in 1987 at the 1500m. In 1989 he won the gold medal at the World Continental Cup in Barcelona at the 1500m in a time of 3:35.56. In 1987, he won first place at the NCAA Championships in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties ...

at the 1500m in a time of 3:35.79. In 1993, he won second place at the 1500m in the Grand Prix Final in London UK, in a time of 3:34.65. In the same year, he also won the bronze medal at the World Championships at 1500m in Stuttgart, Germany in a time of 3:35.96. At the

1985 African Championships in Athletics The 1985 African Championships in Athletics were held in Cairo, Egypt between 15 and 18 August. Medal summary Men's events Women's events Medal table See also *1985 in athletics (track and field) Notes External linksResults– GBR Athl ...

, he won silver at the 1500m. Bile holds Somalia's national records in seven outdoor disciplines, namely the 800m, 1000m, 1500m, one mile, 2000m, 3000m and the 4x1500 metre relay as well as in two indoor disciples, namely the 1500m and the one mile, thus in a total of nine disciplines. The collapse of state institutions from 1990 onwards and injuries had prevented Bile from competing at the Olympics during his prime years.Rage, Deqo, and Samah Kahim. "Naiseus somalialaisessa kulttuurissa: muistelua moniaistisessa tilassa." (2013).

Personal life

Bile has traveled widely and has inspired many young people and helped several humanitarian organizations. He is married, with two sons and daughter named Farhiya, born in 1995, Ahmed born 1993 and Mohamed born 2001. As a senior in high school, Ahmed won the Virginia state cross country title, the 1000m title and 1600m title along with being a two-time New Balance All-American in the 800m. The largest stadium in

is named after him.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bile, Abdi 1962 births Living people George Mason University alumni George Mason Patriots men's track and field athletes Somalian male middle-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Somalia World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Championships athletes for Somalia Goodwill Games medalists in athletics World Athletics Championships winners People from Las Anod Competitors at the 1994 Goodwill Games