Belarus Olympic athlete row: What you need to know

The case of Belarusian Olympian Krystsina Tsimanouskaya has gripped the world since Sunday, when the 24-year-old sprinter accused her Olympic team of taking her to Tokyo airport to be flown home against her wishes after she criticised its management.

Tsimanouskaya has claimed she was warned by Belarusian officials that she would face “punishment” upon returning home from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

The case of Belarusian Olympian Krystsina Tsimanouskaya has gripped the world since Sunday, when the 24-year-old sprinter accused her Olympic team of taking her to Tokyo airport to be flown home against her wishes after she criticised its management.

Tsimanouskaya has claimed she was warned by Belarusian officials that she would face “punishment” upon returning home from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Fearing for her safety, she sought the protection of Japanese police at the airport instead of boarding the Belarus-bound jet and later made for the Polish embassy in Tokyo as reports abounded that she was seeking asylum in Europe.

She has since been granted a humanitarian visa by Poland’s government.

Here’s what you need to know about her case:

What sparked the standoff?

Tsimanouskaya said the standoff began after she criticised how officials were managing her team, setting off a huge backlash in state-run media outlets in her native Belarus, where longtime President Alexander Lukashenko has overseen a sweeping crackdown on dissent since a contested August 2020 election.

The runner said in a video posted on her Instagram account that her coaches had registered her for the 4×400 metres relay event – even though she had not trained for such a race – after some team members were found to be ineligible to compete because they had not undergone sufficient doping tests.

She said she was then barred from competing in the 200 metres event scheduled to take place on Monday and withdrawn from the games altogether by her team’s officials.

Tsimanouskaya claims she was later taken to Tokyo’s Haneda airport but she refused to board the plane and sought the protection of Japanese police.

The Belarusian Olympic Committee said coaches had decided to withdraw Tsimanouskaya from the Games on doctors’ advice about her “emotional, psychological state”.