--- description: The marathon silver medalist won't return to his country after his act of protest at the finish line title: Ethiopian Medalist Stays in Brazil After Olympic Protest image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt47222c0aacbf17ea/6988a36a656a3f219dbccd99/gettyimages-592640574.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Sports](/section/sports/) ## Sports Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [olympics](/tag/olympics/) ## olympics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Olympic Silver Medalist Feyisa Lilesa Didn't Return to Ethiopia After Act of Protest by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 24, 2016 4:58 AM CUT  Ethiopia's Feyisa Lilesa crosses the finish line of the men's marathon athletics event at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 21, 2016 Ethiopia's Feyisa Lilesa crosses the finish line of the men's marathon athletics event at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 21, 2016Olivier Morin—AFP/Getty Images by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 24, 2016 4:58 AM CUT Ethiopian marathon runner Feyisa Lilesa, who made headlines at the 2016 Rio Olympics on Sunday for an act of protest while crossing the finish line, [will not return](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/24/medallist-feyisa-lilesa-fails-to-return-to-ethiopia-after-olympics-protest "undefined") to his home country over fears of reprisal. Lilesa, who won the silver medal, was not on board the flight carrying Ethiopia’s Olympic contingent to the country’s capital, Addis Ababa, Monday night, Agence France-Presse reported. Ethiopian officials neither mentioned his medal — one of the country’s eight at the games — nor answered any questions about him. The 26-year-old athlete [crossed his arms above his head](http://time.com/4460814/rio-2016-olympics-feyisa-lilesa-ethiopia-protest-marathon-oromo/ "undefined") at the finish line on Sunday and did so again at a postrace awards ceremony, a gesture used to condemn the government’s violent crackdown on protests in the East African nation’s Oromo region, from where he hails. The Ethiopian government subsequently said Lilesa would be [given a hero’s welcome](http://time.com/4461354/ethiopia-olympic-runner-feyisa-lilesa/ "undefined") and not face any punishment, but he is apparently taking no chances, with reports suggesting he may try to seek asylum in the U.S. “He doesn’t want to go to Ethiopia, he wants to go to another country,” the runner’s agent, Federico Rosa, [told](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/24/world/africa/feyisa-lilesa-ethiopian-marathoner-wont-return-home.html?%5Fr=0 "undefined") the New York _Times_. “I don’t know even when he decided to do this,” he added. The Internet has rallied behind Lilesa, with a crowdfunding campaign [raising](https://www.gofundme.com/2kykuuxs?rcid=5b8ad2bc683a11e69571bc764e04c5a7 "undefined") more than $100,000 for him. “You don’t do something like this for money,” Rosa said. “He did this to defend his country.” Rio Olympics 2016: Ethiopia's Feyisa Lilesa Stays in Brazil ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4463910/ethiopia-feyisa-lilesa-protest-olympics/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4463910/ethiopia-feyisa-lilesa-protest-olympics/"},"headline":"Olympic Silver Medalist Feyisa Lilesa Didn't Return to Ethiopia After Act of Protest","datePublished":"2016-08-24T04:58:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T00:09:52.209Z","description":"There are reports he may seek asylum in the U.S.","url":"https://time.com/4463910/ethiopia-feyisa-lilesa-protest-olympics/","keywords":["olympics","protest","brazil","ethiopia","Marathon","USA","Summer Olympics","2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics","Rio 2016 Olympics"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt47222c0aacbf17ea/6988a36a656a3f219dbccd99/gettyimages-592640574.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rishi Iyengar","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt47222c0aacbf17ea/6988a36a656a3f219dbccd99/gettyimages-592640574.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"ATHLETICS-OLY-2016-RIO","caption":"ATHLETICS-OLY-2016-RIO","creditText":"Olivier Morin—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/olympics/","name":"olympics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4463910/ethiopia-feyisa-lilesa-protest-olympics/","name":"Olympic Silver Medalist Feyisa Lilesa Didn't Return to Ethiopia After Act of Protest"}}]}] ```