“You know, sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage. Just literally twenty seconds of just embarrassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it.” Benjamin Mee, We Bought a Zoo. Courage is not just any noun. Courage is a noun that frightens many. Some poses this noun, and many do not. Do you have the ability to do something that frightens one? Many have never even heard of the name Abebe Bikila, a two time Olympic gold medalists. Bikila was born in the small community of Jato, 25 kilometers outside the town of Mendida, Ethiopia. He was discovered as a young man, to become a potential world-class athlete, which soon enough, he was. In the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Bikila was very late to be added to the Ethiopian team because he was a replacement for another very sick competitor. Due to the late entry, Adidas the sponsor for the Olympics had very few shoe choices for Bikila to chose from to compete in. When he finally did choose a shoe he was not pleased with it because of its feel and how it made his feet uncomfortable when he ran. Hours before Abebe Bikila was scheduled to compete in the final race, he made the courageous decision to run barefoot. He had trained all his life without shoes and knew he could do it. While many people discouraged this choice, Bikila did not back down to their …show more content…
The revolution is very on hard on Ling’s family because of their particular views on Chairman Mao and his decisions. As well as Ling’s family, their friends share the same views as them. Due to Chairman Mao’s precautions to eliminate all anti-revolutionist, the Mrs. Wong (the mother of Ling’s family’s friends) was accused of being an enemy. When she was put up for public humiliation, Ling’s father stepped up and defended Mrs. Wong. He put his own life in danger, due to tough consequences, to stand up for his friend and show