Belarus athlete granted Polish visa after refusing to return home
Belarusian athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, who refused her team’s orders to board a flight home from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, has been granted a humanitarian visa by the Polish government.
The sprinter, 24, entered the Polish embassy in Tokyo earlier today after spending a night in secure accommodation at Haneda airport under Japanese police protection.
Tsimanouskaya plans to fly to Poland in the coming days, Polish deputy foreign minister Marcin Przydacz told Reuters, adding she is “safe and in good condition” in the embassy.
“I can confirm that we have issued a humanitarian visa. I can confirm that we will provide all necessary support in Poland if she wishes to use it,” said Pawel Jablonski, another Polish deputy foreign minister.
The athlete raised the alarm by posting a video online to appeal to the International Olympic Committee for help, saying she had been pressured and her team were trying to take me out of the country without my consent.
Tsimanouskaya’s husband, Arseni Zhdanevich, had arrived in Ukraine and will join her in Poland, a Warsaw-based Belarusian opposition politician said.
Tsimanouskaya, who was due to competing in the women’s 200m heats on Monday, said she was kidnapped by her own team to the airport on Sunday in an attempt to repatriate her after she criticised the team’s management forcibly.
She made her complaint on social media earlier, saying she was entered in the 4x400m relay after some teammates were not eligible to compete as they had not gone through sufficient doping tests.
Tsimanouskaya refused to board a Turkish Airlines flight returning to Belarus, where long-serving authoritarian president Alexander Lukashenko is known for cracking down on dissidents.
The Belarusian Olympic Committee said coaches withdrew Tsimanouskaya from the Games due to her “emotional, psychological state” after seeking doctors’ advice.