Marathon. He reached new heights in the marathon at the 2012 Chicago Marathon – he duelled against Tsegaye Kebede in the final stages and finished as runner-up with a personal best of 2:04:52 hours. He retained his half marathon title in Houston at the start of 2013 and came fourth at the RAK Half Marathon a month later. Feyisa won the national cross country title at the Jan Meda International, earning selection for the global race. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, at which he won the silver medal in the Marathon, he crossed his wrists as a sign of support for his Oromo people who face relocation under a government program to allocate land surrounding the capital for industrial development, that prompted fierce demonstrations in November 2015 that lasted for months. The Oromos were using the same gesture in their protests. Feyisa also said that his gesture might lead to retribution on his return, and that he might be forced to leave his homeland. At a press conference held in Washington, D.C., on 14 September 2016, Feyisa urged the international community, particularly the United States which is an ally of Ethiopia, to put pressure on the Ethiopian government to give the people their rights lest an ethnic conflict follow the recent wave of protests. Despite his protest, he said that he would still like to run representing his country, Ethiopia. In 2021, Lilesa enlisted in the Ethiopian Army to fight in the Tigray War. Personal bests All information taken from IAAF profile. Achievements References External links Marathoninfo profile 1990 births Living people Ethiopian male long-distance runners Ethiopian male marathon runners World Athletics Championships medalists Tokyo Marathon male winners Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic silver medalists for Ethiopia Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Oromo people Olympic male marathon runners Sportspeople from Oromia Region