Addis Abeba – In an extraordinary win in its history of athletics, Ethiopia bagged a total of 10 medals, including four gold, four bronze, and two silver at the 18th World Athletics Championship of Eugene, in Oregon, USA. This put Ethiopia second only to the United States in the overall medal table. Competing under Ethiopia’s name, Three of the four gold medals and one of the silver medals are won by Tigrayan athletes. Letesenbet Giday prevailed in women’s 10,000m, Gotytom Gebreselase grabbed the women’s marathon, Gudaf Tsegay triumphed in women’s 5,000 m, and a silver medal in women’s 1,500m.
Under normal circumstances and in a nation where everyone equally belongs to and shares the pain and gains, such impressive achievements would have been a reason for national celebrations. It would be cherished as excitement that binds every citizen. Under normal circumstances, the winner belongs to all and identifying the winners by ethnicity might not be necessary. These past years however have been anything but normal in Ethiopia.
Since November 2020, Ethiopia/Tigray has been the scene of the world’s deadliest conflict. Ethiopia is now full of killing fields. The proxy for war between the government in Addis Ababa and the Tigray regional state began with a political dispute between the federal government and Tigray with Ethiopia’s decision to postpone the regular election under the pretext of the COVID-19 pandemic and Tigray’s decision to hold its elections on September 9, 2020. Tigray viewed the election postponement as an illegal act by the government in Addis Ababa to extend its grip on power beyond its mandated term. This dispute eventually escalated to armed conflict on November 4, 2020. However, there are indications that the war’s preparation started well before November 4, 2020. The war also broke out during what the United Nations, at the time, called the “worst locust swarm in 25 years”
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