Degaga "Mamo" Wolde (; 12 June 1932 – 26 May 2002) was an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competed in track, cross-country, and road running events. He was the winner of the marathon at the 1968 Summer Olympics.
Early life
Degaga was born on 12 June 1932 in Ada'a to an Oromo family.
Athletics career
At his first Olympic appearance in 1956, Degaga competed in the 800 m, 1,500 m and the 4x400 relay.
He did not 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 did not 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 did not make it to the team. Demissie also became a marathon runner.
Both brothers competed in Tokyo, in the 1964 Olympic marathon. On 3 August 1964, in the Ethiopian Olympic trials, a race held at 8,000 feet, Degaga qualified by running 2:16:19.2, just 4/10ths of a second behind Abebe Bikela, with Demissie finishing 2:19:30, for 3rd place. Although Degaga dropped out early, Demessie, after being among the leaders for much of the 1964 Olympic race, finished tenth in 2:21:25.2. On 21 April 1965, as part of the opening ceremonies for the second season of the 1964/1965 New York World's Fair, Abebe and Degaga participated in an exclusive ceremonial half marathon. They ran from the Arsenal in Central Park at 64th Street & Fifth Avenue in Manhattan to the Singer Bowl at the fair. They carried with them a parchment scroll with greetings from Haile Selassie. In 1967, he repeated his wins in San Sebastian and Elgiobar, and won again at the latter event in 1968.
In the 1968 Summer Olympics, Degaga became the second Ethiopian to win gold in the marathon. Earlier in the same Olympics, he had won the silver medal in the 10,000 m. At the age of 40, Degaga won his third Olympic medal placing third in 2:15:08 at the 1972 Olympic marathon, while Demissie placed 18th in 2:20:44.0. Degaga also won the marathon race in the 1973 All-Africa Games. He blamed his Olympic third place showing in 1972 on ill-fitting shoes forced on him by Ethiopian officials. The IOC campaigned the Ethiopian government for his release. He had been married twice and had three children; a son, Samuel, with his first wife, and two children, Addis Alem and Tabor, with his second wife. Degaga is interred in Saint Joseph's Church Cemetery in Addis Ababa.