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The Ethiopian prevailed in the competition with a time of 1 hour 4 minutes and 30 seconds.
Feyisa Lilesa, winner of the Bogota Half Marathon 2017.
Photo: Abel Cárdenas / CEET
By: SPORTS,July 30, 2017
This year, the Bogotá Half Marathon celebrated its 18th edition, the race counted with the participation of more than 43,350 athletes, in addition to a general bag in prizes that exceeded 200 million pesos.
The Bogota Half Marathon, in the elite category, proclaimed Feyisa Lilesa, from Ethiopia, who prevailed with a time of 1 hour 4 minutes and 30 seconds. In the second box the podium is the Kenyan Peter Kirui, who arrived 10 seconds after the leader. In the third box, the Ethiopian Shura Kitata.
In the category of ladies, Brigid Jepchirchir Kosgei of Kenya prevailed with a time of 1 hour 12 minutes 20 seconds. Veorincah Wanjiru, also from Kenya, concluded Monday and Ruth Chepngetich, who was third.
The best Colombian athletes in the competition, were of the team Porvenir: Miguel Amador, who got tenth, with a time of 1 hour 7 minutes and 32 seconds; Angie Orjuela that was seventh in its category, with a time of 1 hour 17 minutes and 57 seconds.
Top ten (elite)
Male Open Category 1. Feyisa Lilesa
2. Peter Cheruiyot
3. Shura Kitata
4. Stanley Kpileting
5. Kimutai Kiplimo
6. El Hassan El Abbassi
7. Afewerki Berhane
8. Motoloka Clement
9. Yerson Orellana 10. Miguel Amador
In the midst of celebrating one of the chief successes of his athletics career, a silver medal at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Feyisa Lilesa symbolised the tremendous sufferance of his people, the Oromo by crossing his arms over his head in a gesture of protest. In the following days, his gesture has reverberated around the globe making headlines in many countries as one of the images of the 2016 Olympic Games. While the fate of Lilesa remains unknown as the outcome of the act of protest moves on, the gesture of solidarity has given reasons of hope to many and definitely helped raise awareness of the struggle of his people.
The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO), which for several years has been advocating for the Oromo and other ethnic groups oppressed by the Ethiopian regime, praises Mr Lelisa for his brave gesture and hopes that it will help convince the international community to take a bolder stand on the issue.
Following his gesture, the athlete might face problems if he goes back to Ethiopia, where the authorities have been violently repressing protests for months. The protests began several months ago as peaceful demonstrations regarding development plans, before the government’s harsh and ongoing response led to the death of several people. Many in Oromia now live in fear, and gestures like the one Lilesa made are essential symbols of resistance and solidarity.
During the protests, the government had blocked internet service and scrambled social media apps to stop people from collaborating or expressing dissent. She said Lilesa’s feat exemplifies how fearful a lot of the Ethiopian diaspora is to speak out on this subject.
Lilesa’s silent statement while crossing the finish line in Rio instantly reverberated worldwide. Rule 50 of the Olympic charter bans political displays or protests and the IOC have confirmed that they are gathering information to better understand the case. Ethiopia’s government has said he will be welcomed as a hero for winning a medal, but state media is not showing photos of him crossing the line. Ethiopian state-owned television station EBC Channel 3 covered the race live, including the finish, but did not repeat the clip in subsequent bulletins – focussing instead on the winner, Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge.
Information Minister Getachew Reda told the BBC the government had no reason to arrest him and it respected his political opinion. He also said none of Mr Feyisa’s relatives had been jailed over the Oromo protests.
Lilesa’s agent Federico Rosa stated that the runner would not be returning home after staging his protest, despite Ethiopian government assurances he would not face any problems if he went back.
A crowd-funding campaign to help Feyisa Lilesa seek asylum, has raised more than $136,000 (as of time written), to the surprise of its California-based organizer, who had initially set a target of $10,000, exceeding it within an hour.
“Among his compatriots, including those in the diaspora, Lilesa’s protest was welcomed with tears of joy,” said Mohammed Ademo, the founder and editor of OPride.com, a website that aggregates Oromo news. “A hero was born out of relative obscurity. […] I have no doubt that it will be remembered as a watershed moment in the history of Oromo people.”
Ethnic Oromo athletes have often been erased from Ethiopian lore, yet they were the first black Africans to win Olympic gold, Ademo said. Abebe Bikila did so in the 1960s while running barefoot and Derartu Tulu followed in the 1992 and 2000 Olympics. Yet, behind the scenes, these same athletes faced implicit and explicit biases. For example few Oromo athletes spoke Amharic, the language of power in Ethiopia, but Oromo translators rarely accompanied them.
“In the context of this long and tortuous history, Lilesa’s protest was revolutionary. Beyond the politics within the Ethiopian Olympics federation, his gesture brought much-needed attention to escalating human rights abuses in Ethiopia,” Ademo said.
You may find below a list to some of the news sources that covered the story:
Ethiopia’s state-owned TV network has refused to broadcast footage of one of its most successful Olympic athletes crossing the finishing line or receiving his medal after he staged a political protest against oppression back home.
Feyisa Lilesa won silver in the men’s marathon on the last day of events in Rio, making him Ethiopia’s joint second most successful performer after the country won just one gold in a disappointing campaign.
As he crossed the line on Sunday he raised his arms to form an “X”, a symbol of defiance that has been used by the Oromo people in Ethiopia as part of political protests against the government.
READ MORE
Why an Ethiopian silver medallist could go to jail when he gets home
Lilesa repeated the act in a press conference after the race, and said he would repeat it at the medal ceremony later. He told reporters he faced being killed for doing so if he returns home after the Games.
EBC, the Ethiopian state broadcaster, was showing Lila’s race live on TV on Sunday afternoon. As such, it was unable to avoid airing his protest as it happened the first time.
But the moment he crossed the line was cut from subsequent bulletins and, unlike with its other champions, EBC refused entirely to show footage of Lilesa being given his silver medal.
Ethiopian marathoner Fayisa shows gesture after winning Silver at #Rio2016
On its website, EBC carried a report on the result entitled “Ethiopia wins Silver medal in men’s marathon”.
While its online reports from other Rio events tended to show pictures of victorious athletes after they had finished competing, the Lilesa article was accompanied by an image of a group of the marathon runners halfway through the race.
Neither online nor on TV did the state-run broadcaster make direct reference to Lilesa’s protest.
The athlete is from Oromia, home to many of the 35 million Oroma people, Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group. At the press conference, he said: “The Ethiopian government is killing my people, so I stand with all protests anywhere, as Oromo is my tribe. My relatives are in prison and if they talk about democratic rights they are killed.”
Lilesa told reporters he would be killed or put in prison if he returned home, and said he feared for his wife and two children who are still in Ethiopia. He said he plans to try and stay in Brazil or make his way to the US.
Feyisa Lelisa, Oromo Olympic Marathon silver medalist and #OromoProtests global icon and Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya, Rio 2016 Olympic Marathon Gold medallist.
Kana malees, sabboonticha ilma Oromoo kana lammiileen Oromoo hiree itti qaban hundi isa cinaa hiriiruun gargaarsa barbaachisu hundaan akka bira dhaabbatan waamicha isaa dabarseera. Guutuu isaa kan fulduree kana tuqa dubbisaa: ilma-ummatni-oromoo-itti-boonuu-qabu
The Significance and importance of his heroic solidarity is very understandable for those have followed the #OromoProtests the last 2 years.
That is sign now widely recognized all over Ethiopia as a symbol of civil resistance. Ethiopia has been gripped by successive anti-government protests which the recent one began in Nov. 2015 in Gincii (Ginchi) town, Oromia state.
We are calling on all Ethiopians and human rights advocates to make contributions to funds needed to support Marathon athlete Feyisa Lelisa who exhibited extra-odrinary heroism by becoming an international symbol for #OromoProtests and Ethiopian Freedom Movement after winning a medal at the Rio de Janeiro
Olympic games today August 21, 2016.
Feyisa Lelisa faces persecution if he goes back to Ethiopia and he has decided to to seek assylum. Funds are needed to support him and his family in the meantime, Please donate whatever amount you can. We assure you all the money collected will go to support this Oromo/Ethiopian hero.
Co-sponsered by Abdi Fite, Lalisaa Hikaa and Solomon Ungashe
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