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Olympic sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya refuses to fly back to Belarus
Katherine Berjikian

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Krystsina Tsimanouskaya being escorted by the police at the international airport in Tokyo. /Reuters/ Issei Kato

Krystsina Tsimanouskaya being escorted by the police at the international airport in Tokyo. /Reuters/ Issei Kato

 

Belarusian Olympic sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya is with Japanese police at Tokyo's Haneda airport after accusing the Belarusian Olympic Committee of trying to force her to leave the country.

Tsimanouskay claimed that the Belarusian Olympic Committee had forced her to leave the Tokyo Olympics after criticizing national coaches on Instagram.

"I ask the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to help me, I have been pressured, and they are trying to get me out of the country without my consent," Tsimanouskaya said in a video filmed from the airport.

"I ask that the IOC intervene."

 

 

She initially criticized the coaches for enrolling her in the 4x400m relay after her fellow athletes were disqualified because they had not done enough doping tests before the games. 

"And the coach added me to the relay without my knowledge. I spoke about this publicly," Tsimanouskay told Reuters at the airport.

"The head coach came over to me and said there had been an order from above to remove me."

She had never run the 4x400 relay before and was initially only prepared to run the 100 meters and 200 meters. 

 

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The 200 meters race is on Monday, and it is still unclear if she will be able to run the event.

The Belarusian Olympic Committee said that Tsimanouskay was removed from the Olympics because of her "emotional, psychological state." 

After arriving at the airport, Tsimanouskay refused to board the plane and asked for the police, according to the Belarusian Sport Solidarity Foundation, an organization that supports athletes that experienced repressions because of their political views. 

The foundation also said that Tsimanouskay was going to seek asylum in Austria or Germany. And the sprinter told Reuters that: "I will not return to Belarus."

The IOC is looking into the incident and seeking clarification from the Belarusian Olympic Committee. 

Source(s): AFP ,AP ,Reuters
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