Tokyo 2020 Olympics: Belarusian sprinter Tymanovskaya leaves Japan, stressing that her protest is “not political”

“I love my country and I haven’t betrayed it,” she told the BBC’s “NewsHour”.

“These are mistakes made by our officials at the Olympic Games,” she added.

The runner had previously expressed fears for her safety after being forced to pack and driven to a Tokyo airport after criticizing her coaches.

And I have Timanovskaya She received police protection before being transferred to the Polish Embassy in Tokyo, where she remained until her flight to Narita Airport on Wednesday.

Belarus say they have been excluded from the national team due to their “emotional state”.

But Timanovskaya She told the BBC on Tuesday that she had not had any mental health issues and had not spoken to medics in the Olympic Village.

She said she was surprised when team officials told her she was quitting the Olympics because she “didn’t say anything about politics,” adding that she would like to return to Belarus “when I know this is sure to come back … Maybe I won’t be able to come back for five or ten years. ”

The International Olympic Committee has opened an official investigation into allegations that Belarus tried to coerce Timanovskaya Coming home.

Commission spokesman Mark Adams said: “We want to get all the facts, and it may take time. At the moment, our number one concern is athletics.”

The IOC has asked the Belarusian National Olympic Committee to submit a report on the incident by Tuesday.

The runner’s husband, Arseny Zanievich, has fled Belarus since the incident and is now in Ukraine. He told the BBC that he and his wife had not been involved in politics and that they would return to Belarus if they did not face criminal charges.

In a separate incident on Tuesday, the head of an organization that helps Belarusian nationals flee the country was found dead near his home in neighboring Ukraine. It is reported that Vitaly Shishov has recently been prosecuted.

The incident once again put Belarus in the spotlight, which has been ruled by President Alexander Lukashenko since 1994.

Large-scale nationwide protests against his controversial re-election have been violently suppressed by security forces.

Some of those who joined the protests were nationwide athletes, who had been denied funding, kicked out of national teams and arrested.

Marcin Beshadac, Polish Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, said Timanovskaya She was in direct contact with Polish diplomats in Tokyo, and that Poland would do “whatever it takes to help her pursue her athletic career”.

The Belarusian government has yet to comment on the Polish decision to grant the runner a humanitarian visa.

At the same time, the European Union welcomed Poland’s decision. Nabila Masrali, spokesperson for Josep Borrell, EU foreign policy chief, said Belarusian attempt to extradite Tymanovskaya Obviously this is “another example of the brutality of the repression of the Lukashenko regime”.

“We express our full solidarity with Kristina Timanovskaya,” Masrali said in a statement to Reuters We commend the Member States of the European Union for their support. We welcome the fact that she has now obtained a humanitarian visa from Poland. “

The runner, who was due to compete in the women’s 200m on Monday, complained on social media that she was entered in the 400m relay without prior notification to Belarusian authorities, after some of her teammates were deemed ineligible for the competition.

The video she posted on social media drew criticism in state media, with one TV station saying it lacked “team spirit.”

Timanovskaya said Officials came to her room and gave her an hour to pack her bags before escorting her to Haneda Airport in Tokyo. She said she was “put under pressure” by team officials to return to her home country and asked for help from the International Olympic Committee.

“They are trying to get me out of the country without my permission,” she said in a video posted on the Telegram channel of the Belarusian Sports Solidarity Foundation, created last year to support anti-government athletes.

Foundation member Anatole Kotau told the BBC on Sunday: “She fears retaliation from her family in Belarus – this is the main concern for her now.”

But the Belarusian Olympic team said that Timanovskaya She was excluded from the team because of her “emotional and psychological state”.

Team coach Yuri Moiseevich said that Timanovskaya She looked worried when he spoke to her on Sunday.

“I was trying to have a calm conversation with her and it worked,” he said. “Then I noticed she would stop the conversation and start it again, then she was holding the phone and I saw something was going on.”

Mark Adams, spokesperson for the International Olympic Committee, said on Monday that the committee had taken action against the Belarusian committee during the preparations for the Games.

He banned some officials, including the president’s son, from failing to protect the athletes who joined the protests.

Heather McGill, Eastern Europe and Central Asia researcher at Amnesty International, said sports leasing in the country is under “direct government control” under President Lukashenko.

“Athletes are favored by the state and honored by society, and it is not surprising that athletes who express their views publicly find themselves the target of retaliation,” she said.