Krystsina Tsimanouskaya.Photo: Martin Meissner/AP/Shutterstock
A Belarusian Olympic sprinter is being offered asylum in Poland after having accused her team of trying to remove her from Japan.
Krystsina Tsimanouskaya is safe following a standoff at a Tokyo airport on Monday over the dispute and is currently at the Polish Embassy in Tokyo, according toThe New York Times.
Tsimanouskaya, 24, said she was put in the 4x400 relay, despite never having raced in the event. After criticizing team officials on Instagram, Tsimanouskaya said she was in fear of her safety in her home country, per theAssociated Press.
Tsimanouskaya, who was due to compete in the 200m heats on Monday, now plans to fly to Warsaw on Wednesday, according to Alexander Opeikin, executive director of the Belarusian Sports Solidarity Fund (BSSF).
Poland Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz confirmed on Twitter that his country was offering asylum to the runner, writing, “Kryscina Tsimanouskaya a Belarusian athlet [sic] is already in direct contact with Polish diplomats in Tokyo.”
He added, “She has received a humanitarian Visa. Poland will do whatever is necessary to help her to continue her sporting career. [Poland] always stands for Solidarity.”
Mark Adams, spokesman for the I.O.C., initially told reporters at a news conference Monday that Tsimanouskaya had gone to the airport along with other athletes who had also finished their events, despite still having an upcoming race, according to theTimes.
While he declined to share further details, Adams said reporters would “have to take my word for it” that the athlete was safe.
After contacting police at Haneda Airport, Timanovskaya did not board her flight to Istanbul, reported the AP. According to a statement from BSSF, she was in the police station on Monday morning.
“I explained the situation to a police officer of how I was taken from the Olympic Village,” Timanovskaya said in the BSSF’s statement. “Now I am in a secure situation and am figuring out the question of where I will spend the night.”
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source: people.com
