Belarus sprinter Krystina Timanovskaya flees from Tokyo to Poland

Krystina Timanovskaya was being forced to return home early after publically criticizing her coaches. Fearing for her safety, she cried out for help.

While the last athletes left in the Olympic village have now returned to their home countries, Belarusian sprinter Krystina Timanovskaya has instead gone to Poland, after she was nearly forced home early for criticizing her coaches. Fearing for her safety, she called out for help from the IOC and from Japanese police, and on Wednesday she flew to Warsaw instead of returning home.

The situation began to unfold on Sunday, Aug. 1, one day before Timanovskaya was due to compete in the women’s 200m. After a couple of Belarusian athletes were deemed ineligible to compete, her coaches entered her in the 4 x 400m relay, an event the 24-year-old had no experience in. She complained about the situation in a video on social media, which led to criticism by the Belarus media, which claimed she lacked team spirit.

A report by the BBC says it wasn’t long after that that Belarusian officials arrived at the sprinter’s room, telling her to pack her bags. Reportedly, the order to send her home had come from “high up” in Belarus. In a news conference in Warsaw, Timanovskaya said her grandmother warned her not to return home “because on TV, they say a lot of bad words about you, that you have some mental problems.” Her parents also warned her not to return, telling her the citizens were being encouraged to write hateful messages about her on social media.

Fearing she may face punishment back home, she managed to use Google Translate to get help from Japanese officials at the airport and has now fled to Poland, where she has been granted a visa. Her husband has also fled to Ukraine and is expected to join her in Poland shortly. According to the BBC, Timanovskaya’s main concern now is the safety and well-being of her family, who are still in Belarus.

In an interview with Reuters, the sprinter said her coaches did not expect that she’d be able to approach police at the airport. “They think that we are scared to make a move, that we are afraid to speak, afraid to tell the truth to the whole world. But I am not afraid,” she said. “I am not of those people who are scared.”

She would, however, like to go home. “I would want to return to Belarus. I love my country. I did not betray it and I hope I will be able to return,” she said.

There were a few other Belarusian Olympians who had already been prosecuted or jailed, or who fled for publicly voicing their opposition to the country’s leader, Alexander Lukashenko, but Timanovskaya was not among them. According to the BBC, the IOC has started an investigation into the case, and already two Belarusian coaches have lost their Olympic accreditations for attempting to force Timanovskaya to leave the Games. The investigation is still ongoing.

posted Monday August 9th
by Brittany Hambleton