Belarusian Olympic sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya arrived in Poland the place she’s going to take refuge.
Warsaw:
Belarusian Olympic sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya mentioned she was “completely satisfied to be in security” in Warsaw on Thursday a day after arriving in Poland, the place she took take refuge after saying she feared for her life if compelled to return residence.
The 24-year-old athlete has been on the centre of a diplomatic drama in the midst of the Video games since looking for the safety of Tokyo 2020 employees on Sunday, saying her crew was making an attempt to bundle her onto a aircraft after she publicly criticised her coaches.
“I’m additionally completely satisfied to be right here, completely satisfied to be in security,” the 24-year-old advised reporters within the Polish capital the place she arrived from Tokyo through Vienna.
Tsimanouskaya mentioned she was “shocked that the scenario turned such a political scandal as a result of it began out as a sporting difficulty”, and revealed that “she was “not excited about political asylum” in Poland, which has granted her a humanitarian visa.
“I simply wish to pursue my sporting profession,” she mentioned, including that her husband, Arseny Zdanevich, was “already on the street to Poland – he might be right here right this moment”.
The Polish authorities mentioned Zdanevich had additionally been given a humanitarian visa after he fled to Ukraine on Wednesday.
Earlier than leaving Tokyo, Tsimanouskaya spent two nights sheltering within the Polish embassy there after calling for worldwide assist.
Belarus has been wracked by political upheaval and a crackdown on dissent after disputed elections that returned strongman Alexander Lukashenko to energy final yr.
Tsimanouskaya was certainly one of greater than 2,000 Belarusian sports activities figures who signed an open letter calling for brand new elections and for political prisoners to be freed.
However her hassle in Tokyo got here after she posted on her Instagram, criticising her coaches for getting into her right into a race with out informing her first.
“My mother and father advised me that they are saying dangerous issues about me on tv… I bought plenty of dangerous messages however I bought much more messages of assist,” Tsimanouskaya advised reporters
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