Lelisa took a very brave decision to protest, which puts him and his family in real danger. However, after Lelisa chose to openly protest at the finish, the race, the more exposure he gets, the safer he and his family are. Letsrun, and everyone who writes about him, will help protect his life. One would hope that the regime cannot afford to imprison or kill an Olympic medalist.
Please make NO mistake! He could have easily won the race! He clearly declined to move forward when the other teammates asked him to make a move. Around 1hr :35 -45.
Other overlooked events,when Almaz Ayana shaved off 14sec the world was in awe,she just wanted to show what she can do. She lost to the Kenyan? It was a protest as well,Same.goes to the Dibaba sisters. They are all from the same town,same.tribe and family.
TheIt is going to be interesting what the blood thirsty Ethiopian officials going to respond.
He could have won this easy!
Ayana could have won easy!
Dibaba sisters could have.won easy...
See a pattern?
One of the greatest pieces of running literature is The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner in which the hero as a show of defiance refuses to win.
I don't think that happened here but it is a good story.
i chose D2 wrote:
He didn't protest at the ceremony. Was probably told not to.
He did. See the photo accompanying this article.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/22/world/africa/feyisa-lilesa-ethiopia-olympic-marathon-protest.htmlCome on man you can't be serious.
Of course he would protest outside of Ethiopia preferably at a place in which people all over the world are seeing it. The Olympics is the perfect choice.
Had he made the protest back in his home, chances are no one outside ethiopia would be even aware of the situation. The government controls everything, press included.
And no it's not quite 'easy' to speak out regardless, especially when he's aware of the danger that he is putting on his relatives.
Now after the marathon you, me and a bunch of other people have a chance to spread the message, and international pressure has a chance to act and try to give voice to Ethiopian people (off course we know that it probably won't happen so easily but Lelisa took a chance to make a change).
Andinet wrote:
He could have won this easy!
Ayana could have won easy!
Dibaba sisters could have.won easy...
See a pattern?
Let's try not change the subject here, Andinet! Im Ethiopian myself and I know exactly what you're trying to say. However, I don't think you know these particular athletes (both the Ethiopians an Kenyans that you're talking about).
I think most people here will agree that:
What Almaz did was beyond Tirunesh's ability. For Tirunesh, despite that 10k race being her only 3rd track race of the season after a maturity, she ran an amazing time improving her time by 12 seconds. She gave it all and that was all she could do, at least at this point. So there was no way she was going to win the Rio 10k.
Genzebe Dibaba may have won if she had used a different tactic (kick on the last lap like she did on the semi finals maybe), but you must understand how strong Faith Kipyegon is too.
And Lilesa? You must not know much about Eluid Kipchoge! He is just unbearable at this point! He's probably the most smartest marathoner the world has ever seen! So Lilesa, coming in 2nd behind him, getting that close to him itself is an amazing performance. The runner he beat, Galen Rupp too, is an amazing marathoner to-be, winning a medal in his only 2nd marathon, and that's in an Olympic race! Galen's marathon performance is very much comparable to Almaz Ayana's 10k race in my opinion. Expect greater things from the two in the new future!
And you have to realize too, that Feyisa Lilesa was not even the top pick for Ethiopia's marathon team. He came in the discussion much later, and was selected as the least factor to contend for a medal. I myself didn't think he was going to get a medal, let alone his braveness to expose such a political issue in a such risky way!
What really kept him going is his determination! He had this thing (what he did) planned out and he wasn't going to let it down! From what I understood from his interviews, he actually wanted win the race and show the protest, though that we not to be because it's against a guy like Kipchoge, but he REALLY fought for the win till the very end! So I think his plan of the protest really pushed/encouraged him to win the silver, but he would've performed poorly with his trainings alone, just like his other teammates. He was after a big mission so he fought really hard mentally. What a brave runner!!
Feyissa Lelisa is coming from the same lineage as the great Abebe Bikila.
It seems his plight has greater meaning now that if it had happened to Bikila?
I would have never known hadn't I seen it on letsrun featured story.
Wow!
So, the Olympics ended 48 hours ago where is Lelisa?