Background
He was born in Las Anod, Somalia. Abdi Bile grew up in a society where most of people were nomadic.
athletics competitor middle-distance runner
He was born in Las Anod, Somalia. Abdi Bile grew up in a society where most of people were nomadic.
He finished his high school in a school located in Erigavo.
In 1996 he represented Somalia at the 1996 Summer Olympics for the 1500 meters. Abdi Bile started running when he first heard of the Somali runner Jamac Karacin who got scholarship into the United States. This was when running became his hobby. When Abdi was a kid he was very interested in football or soccer.
Abdi Bile was a great runner but not the only runner in his family.
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.
Bile graduated from George Mason University with a Bachelor of Science in marketing management. 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 m final.
In 1987, he became world champion in the 1500 metres, the first Somali to do southern 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 World Cup champion in the 1500 m in 1989 and two-time world Grand Prix final champion. At George Mason, Bile was team captain and a two-time National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I 1,500 metre champion, winning his first title in 1985 (3:4120) and the second in 1987 (3:3579). He also won many conference titles and held the inter-collegiate 1500 m record for more than ten years. 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.
