The International Olympic Committee is investigating the situation of Belarusian athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya and will not impose sanctions on Belarus until the case is clarified. This was announced by the head of the IOC press service Mark Adams.
The National Olympic Committee of Belarus announced on August 1st that the coaching staff of the athletics team has decided to send Krystsina Tsimanouskaya home because of her emotional and psychological condition. She was planned to take part in the Olympic Games in Tokyo in the 100m and 200 mm sprints. Due to the insufficient number of doping tests, two Belarusian runners in the 4x400m relay were removed.
The coaching staff decided to put Krystsina Tsimanouskaya in the relay, but the athlete sharply criticized this decision on social networks.
Meanwhile, Krystsina Tsimanouskaya spent the night in a hotel located at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport. “She spent the night at the hotel in a safe environment”, said Mark Adams, noting that IOC officials had personally communicated with the Belarusian athlete.
Krystsina Tsimanouskaya was also in the police department at the Tokyo airport. However, the police stated that the Belarusian athlete was not in the station, refusing to announce when she left.
Belarusian sprinter Kristina Timanovskaya is “safe” and now looks likely to claim asylum in a third country.
“I am afraid that I might be jailed in Belarus”, said Krystsina Tsimanouskaya in an interview with the Belarusian sports news site Tribuna on Sunday. “I am not afraid of being fired or kicked out of the national team. I’m concerned about my safety. And I think that at the moment it is not safe for me in Belarus. I didn’t do anything, but they deprived me of the right to participate in the 200-meter race and wanted to send me home”, added she.
