Ethiopia's Assurances Don't Convince Olympic Medalist

Silver medalist Feyisa Lilesa said the Ethiopian government would likely kill or imprison him if he ever returned to the country from Rio, where he crossed his wrists above his head in solidarity with protesters in his homeland as he crossed the marathon finish line. Ethiopia shot back that he'd have a "a heroic welcome" and would face no prosecution. Those assurances weren't enough to convince Lilesa to head home, reports the New York Times. His agent confirmed he wouldn't be flying back with the rest of his team, and an AFP journalist confirmed Lilesa didn't deplane at the Addis Ababa airport with the rest of the team.

Lilesa's agent says it was all unplanned (Lilesa's wife and two children are currently in Ethiopia), and that "he doesn't want to go to Ethiopia, he wants to go to another country. The US would be very good, but right now we just don't know where he's going to go." The Times reports applying for asylum in the US would be a multi-stage process that would likely have to start with him making that application in Brazil. A GoFundMe page set up for Lilesa has raised more than $110,000. (More 2016 Olympics stories.)