Photo: AP
ESAT News (February 14, 2017)
Olympic silver medalist known for his protest gesture at the Rio Olympic against a brutal regime in his home country, Feyisa Lilesa, who sought asylum in the U.S., reunited with his wife and two children on Tuesday.
Lelisa crossed his wrist at the finish line in Rio to protest the plight of his people by a regime that used live ammunitions to disperse peaceful protesters, killing at least 700, according to estimates by rights groups and local political parties.
After Rio, Lelisa announced he would not be returning to Ethiopia. “They will kill me if i go back home,” he said last summer.
Lelisa welcomed his wife and two children on Valentine’s Day at the Miami airport in an emotional reunion after six months.
The athlete trains and lives in Flagstaff, Arizona.