Mamo Wolde
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Birth name | Degaga Wolde | ||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
June 12, 1932 Ada'a, Oromo |
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| Died | May 26, 2002 (aged 69) Addis Ababa |
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| Resting place |
Saint Joseph's Church 8°58′11.57″N 38°46′1.51″E / 8.9698806°N 38.7670861°E |
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Medal record
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Degaga "Mamo" Wolde (Oromo: Maammo Woldee, Amharic: ደጋጋ ("ማሞ") ዎልደ?; June 12, 1932 – May 26, 2002) was an Ethiopian long distance runner who competed in track and road running events. He was also the winner of the marathon at the 1968 Summer Olympics.
Mamo was born in Ada'a to an Oromo family. In 1951, he moved to Addis Ababa.
At his first Olympic appearance in 1956, Degaga competed in the 800 m, 1,500 m and the 4x400 relay.
He didn't compete in the 1960 Summer Olympics, when Abebe Bikila became the first Ethiopian to win a gold medal. Degaga claimed his absence was due to the government's desire to send him on a peacekeeping mission to the Congo during the Congo Crisis. According to him, in the government's ensuing conflict with the Ethiopian Olympic Committee, who wanted him to compete, he didn't get sent to either event. However, athlete Said Moussa Osman, who represented Ethiopia in the 800 m at the 1960 Olympics, stated that Degaga lost at the trials and didn't make it on the team.
Beginning in the 1960s, Degaga's focus changed from middle distance races to long distances. He placed fourth in the 10,000 m at the 1964 Summer Olympics, which was won by Billy Mills of the United States in one of the biggest upsets in the history of Olympic competition.
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