{"id":354043,"date":"2016-08-22T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-08-22T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/?guid=4766b571f58ce5828ebb5c752f93e737"},"modified":"2026-09-09T15:40:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T19:40:12","slug":"rio-2016-feyisa-lilesas-crossed-arms-finish-and-a-protest-that-reached-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/354043","title":{"rendered":"Rio 2016: Feyisa Lilesa\u2019s crossed-arms finish and a protest that reached the world"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Ethiopian marathon silver medalist Feyisa Lilesa<\/strong> crossed the finish line with his arms crossed above his head\u2014a gesture associated with protests against repression in Oromia. The moment instantly became one of the Games\u2019 most political images.<\/p>\n

\"Rio<\/p>\n

Lilesa later said he feared returning home; he lived in exile for a period before eventually returning after political changes in Ethiopia. His protest linked elite sport to domestic human-rights debates and showed how Ethiopian athletes can become global messengers when domestic media space is constrained.<\/p>\n

Nearly a decade later, the crossed-arms finish remains a reference point in discussions of athlete activism, Oromo politics, and the soft power of Ethiopian distance running.<\/p>\n

Sources<\/h3>\n