“Shame”, “sinking”, “nauseating”… Strong criticism is being leveled against the former French athlete Mahiedine Mekhissi, triple Olympic medalist, after a message comparing the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to Adolf Hitler, and calling Westerners “collaborators.”
“Adolf Hitler is an altar boy next to Netanyahu! The West of real collaborators”, published on the social network
His publication sparked many outraged comments on the social network. The Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, said she was “deeply shocked by such comments, in these tragic circumstances”. “These disastrous comparisons flirt with everything that is most nauseating and take you so far away from the universal values ??of peace that sport will always defend as well as the values ??of Olympism that you have been able to embody for so many of our compatriots,” said -she continued.
“And to think that this individual wore the France team jersey! I’m ashamed for our city…what a wreck! », lamented Arnaud Robinet, the mayor (Horizons) of Reims, where Mahiedine Mekhissi is from.
The 38-year-old athlete won two silver medals in the 3000m steeplechase in 2008 in Beijing and 2012 in London as well as a bronze medal in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. He is also a four-time European champion over the same distance (2010, 2012, 2016, 2018) and over 1500 m (2014).
