The International Olympic Committee has launched a formal investigation into the incident with Belarusian sprinter Kristina Cimanouska, who on Sunday refused to board a plane to Minsk, announcing that she was being forced to return home.
Cimanouska applied for asylum in Poland and is staying at the country ‘s embassy in Tokyo, she is scheduled to fly to Warsaw on Wednesday. The Belarusian sprinter said she wanted to continue her career, but now the main thing is security.
“Right now, I just want to get to Europe safely, meet the people who help me and decide together how to proceed. I would really like to pursue a career in sports because I am only 24 years old and I had plans to take part in at least two more Olympics, “Cimanouska said in an interview with the Associated Press.
“I have not thought about which country I will represent, whether I will continue to fight under Belarus or under a neutral flag. At the moment, I am only thinking about my own security.”
“I love my country, I have not betrayed it. This whole story is about the mistakes our officials made at the Olympics. ” in an interview with the BBC admitted Cimanouska. Her husband Arseniy Zdanevich, who has also left Belarus, has previously expressed the view that the two with his wife were not political figures and cannot be considered opposition activists.
Cimanouska believes that if she had agreed to return to Belarus, the ruling regime would certainly have punished her for disobeying the demands.
CONTEXT:
Belarusian sprinter Kristina Cimanouska, who had to start 100 and 200 meters in Tokyo, publicly expressed her dissatisfaction with the fact that she was obliged to participate in the 4×400 meter relay race, which is not her discipline.
Cimanousku was included in the relay team because two other Belarusian runners who had not passed a sufficient number of doping tests during the season were not allowed to participate in the Olympic Games.
Cimanouska’s refusal to participate in the relay provoked a sharp wave of condemnation in the Belarusian state media, where the athlete was called a disgrace to Belarus. On Sunday, it became known that the Belarusian delegation had decided to withdraw Cimanouska’s participation in the Olympics and the athlete is ordered to return to Belarus. She was ordered to pack up and go to the airport, but Cimanouska refused to board the plane.
She applied for asylum in Polandwho agreed to host athletes.
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