In 1960, the Olympic champion in the marathon completely unexpectedly became the unknown Ethiopian Abebe Bekila. He, the only runner, crossed the distance barefoot. Commentators and specialists considered this a decisive factor in Beckyla's victory - he said, he did not drag on an extra load in the form of shoes.
For this reason, at the next Olympic Games, the majority of marathoners started barefoot, but Beckyla won again - but already in shoes.
And at the previous Olympics, as it later turned out, he performed without a special running shoe simply because the poor Ethiopian had no money for it.