Olympian in Belarus says she was taken to the airport against her will | Olympic Games News

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Runner Kristina Tsimanskaya is asking for help from the International Olympic Committee, accusing her national team of trying to get her out of Japan.

Belarusian sprinter Kristina Tsimanoskaya called on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for help, claiming she was removed from the national team and flown to Tokyo airport against her desire to return home over her criticism of the national coaches.

“I am asking for help from the International Olympic Committee,” Tsimanoskaya said in a video on Sunday posted on the Telegram channel of the Belarusian Sports Solidarity Foundation, a group that supports athletes imprisoned or marginalized for their political views.

There is pressure against me. They are trying to get me out of the country without my permission. I ask the International Olympic Committee to participate.”

Tsimanoskaya had been scheduled to compete in the women’s 200 meters on Monday. Tsimanoskaya, 24, said coaching staff came to her room on Sunday and asked her to pack up. She was flown to the city’s Haneda Airport before she could run in the 200m and 4x400m relay on Thursday.

She said she was removed from the team due to “the fact that I spoke on my Instagram about neglecting our coaches”.

The Belarusian Olympic Committee said in a statement that the coaches had decided to withdraw Tsimanoskaya from the Games on the advice of doctors regarding her “emotional and psychological state”.

The Belarus Olympic Committee did not immediately respond to a request for additional comment.

Tsimanoskaya was scheduled to compete in the women’s 200m on Monday [Aleksandra Szmigiel/Reuters]

Tsimanoskaya had previously complained about her entry into the 4x400m relay after some team members were found ineligible to compete in the Olympics because they had not been properly tested for doping.

“Some of our girls didn’t travel here to compete in the 4x400m relay because they didn’t have enough doping tests,” Tsimanoskaya told Reuters news agency from the airport.

“And the coach added me to the relay without my knowledge. I spoke about this publicly. The coach came up to me and said there was an order from above to remove me.”

Tsimanoskaya added that she was standing next to the Japanese police at the airport, and contacted a member of the Belarusian community in Japan to retrieve her at the airport.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has been in control of Belarus, the former Soviet country, since 1994.

Facing massive street protests last year over what his opponents called a rigged election, he ordered a violent crackdown on protesters. Lukashenko denies allegations of vote tampering.

Unusually in a country where elite athletes often rely on government funding, some prominent Belarusian athletes have joined the protests. Several of them were imprisoned, Olympic basketball player Jelena Lyushanka and decathlon player Andrei Krauchanka.

Others lost their government jobs or were expelled from the national teams for supporting the opposition.

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