Belarusian athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya has left Tokyo for Vienna after refusing to return to Belarus for fear of repercussions from the authoritarian government in Minsk.
She was a participant in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Poland had granted her a humanitarian visa and she was expected to travel directly to Warsaw, but changed her destination at the last minute, an airport official told reporters, the BBC reports.
It is still unclear whether Austria is its final destination.
On the morning of August 4, she left the Polish Embassy in Japan and arrived at Narita International Airport in Tokyo.
She took refuge at the Polish Embassy on August 2 after rejecting calls from Belarusian team officials for her to fly to Minsk.
At the airport she did not respond to the interest of some journalists, but earlier she told the AP agency that team officials had made it clear that “after returning home she would definitely face some kind of punishment.”
She said the key moment of her decision not to travel to Belarus was when the team’s managers told her that “other people” had ordered her to be sent home. The athlete said she was afraid that her return to Belarus would be a danger to her.
She told the BBC that her actions were not a political protest.
“I love her and I did not betray my country,” she said, adding that her decision was about “mistakes made by Belarusian officials at the Olympics.”
The head of the Belarusian delegation, Dzmitry Dauhalionak, declined to comment on the allegations, according to the AP.
Earlier, the Belarus National Olympic Committee told a state news agency that it was monitoring the situation and was cooperating with the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The IOC has launched an investigation into Tsimanouskaya’s allegations, announcing that it would question two officials of the Belarusian team who were allegedly involved in the attempt to remove Tsimanouskaya from the Olympics prematurely.
IOC spokesman Mark Adams said a disciplinary case had been opened “to establish the facts” in Tsimanouskaya’s case.
The two officials allegedly told Tsimanouskaya that she should return home because of some comments she made on social media where she had criticized the authorities.
The IOC identified team members as Artur Shumak and Yury Moisevich.
Athlete Tsimanouskaya’s problems began when coaches told her she had to take part in a race for which she had never competed.
On social media, she criticized the move and accused officials of trying to force her back into Belarus.
The athlete denied the allegations that she had planned everything just to leave in a third place.
“Everything that is happening now has not been part of my plans,” Tsimanouskaya told the AP.
Her husband, Arsen Zdanevich, has also decided to leave Belarus after Tsimanouskaya announced he would not return.
Reuters reports that Zdanevich is currently in Ukraine and hopes to reunite with his wife in Poland.
Regime in Belarus and the Olympics
The case of the Belarusian athlete has provoked international reactions as it was seen as another attempt by Alyaksandr Lukashenko’s regime to suppress opponents, the media and opposition activists.
Protests in Belarus erupted after the August 2020 presidential election, which Lukashenko claims he won.
Since then, more than 35,000 people have been arrested and thousands more have been mistreated by police.
Key opposition figures have been imprisoned or forced to flee the country.
Lukashenko has been ruling Belarus for 27 years with an iron fist. He has accused Western countries of plotting to overthrow his government.
However, the Belarusian athlete has refused to link her problems to the political situation in Belarus.
“For me, my career is important. “Only sport is important,” she said.
She added that the only thing that worries her at the moment is her safety.
Lukashenko’s focus on sports
Lukashenko has served as head of the country’s Olympic Committee and has a keen interest in sports. After leading the Olympic Committee for nearly a quarter of a century, he handed over the task to his eldest son, sternly warning the country’s Olympic athletes to perform as well as possible in competitions.
“It is better not to return to the country if you go there as tourists and do not bring anything,” Lukashenko said.
He and his son were barred from attending the Tokyo 2020 Olympics after some athletes complained of retaliation and threats from the regime.
“Lukashenko sees sport as part of the state ideology,” said Valery Karbalevich, an independent Belarusian political analyst.
“Lukashenko believes that Belarus is surrounded by enemies and sees any criticism as part of a Western conspiracy,” he said.
Many Belarusian athletes have faced persecution after coming out against the authorities and expressing their support for the protests against Lukashenko.
After protesting peacefully, Belarusian basketball star Yelena Leuchanka spent 15 days in jail in October.
She had told the AP that prison conditions were appalling.
Maria Shakuro, captain of the national rugby team in Belarus was also sentenced to ten days in prison for participating in a peaceful protest.
Following a critical post against Lukashenko in September, Vadim Devyatovsky, the head of the Athletics Federation, was fired.
One of the most famous handball players, Natalya Petrakova was fired as the coach of the national women’s handball team after she had previously signed a letter of protest.
The Belarusian Sports Solidarity Foundation said a total of 124 athletes had served prison sentences, faced dismissals or other repressive actions.
“The situation in the country is terrible and this is being reflected in sports,” said Vadim Krivosheyev, a sports activist.
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