Meseret Defar "obviously a message in there somewhere"


The is some amusement to be had looking up film with commentators trying to make sense of the displays of Christian prayer at the Olympics. Meseret Defar (Orthodox) carried an icon of Our Lady and the child Jesus with her on the 5000m race that she won. After the finish, she took it out, knelt down and prayed, then kissed it and showed it to the cameras several times.

The commentary was like a clip from Alan Partridge
Commentator 1 [as if she were kissing a teddy bear] Look! Aaah!
[on seeing that it is an icon] There's obviously a message in there somewhere isn't there?
Commentator 2 Well there's a strong Christian community in Ethiopia.
Commentator 1 [haltingly] Yes.. Yes.. and I think that was the ... err ... what we saw there. [livening up again] 15.04 25 Meseret Defar...
You can watch it on the video at this page at 1.49.

God bless Meseret Defar! Congratulations on winning the gold medal! Thank you for your witness to our Christian faith.

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