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You can watch The Athlete (2009) for free on Hoopla.

Running the streets of Rome in 1960, an unknown, barefooted Ethiopian man stunned the world by winning Olympic gold in the marathon. Overnight, Abebe Bikila became a sports legend. A hero in his own country and to the continent, Bikila was the first African to win a gold medal, and four years later in Tokyo would become the first person in history to win consecutive Olympic gold medals in the marathon.

Sweeping, sun-drenched vistas of 1960s Rome capture the breathless rhythm of a man running through history on bare feet. This intimate portrait traces the sudden, dizzying ascent of an Ethiopian underdog who transformed a single race into a continental triumph.

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