The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced Friday that two Belarusian coaches were removed from the Tokyo Olympics over their alleged attempt to send an Olympic sprinter home, forcing her to seek political refuge in Poland.
Olympic head coach Yuri Moisevich and team official Artur Shumak allegedly ordered Belarusian Olympic sprinter Krystina Tsimanouskaya to return home after she criticized the coaches on Instagram for placing her in the 4x400m relay race without her knowledge, the AFP reported. The IOC removed the coaches from the village and rescinded their accreditations after holding an investigation into the incident.
“The two coaches were requested to leave the Olympic village immediately and have done so,” the IOC said, according to the outlet. The organization said the coaches “will have an opportunity to be heard” but their removal was “in the interest of the wellbeing of the athletes.”
The team officials told Tsimanouskaya to pack her things and return to her country immediately, Fox News reported. She was ordered to lie and say that she left the Olympics early due to an injury.
The Belarus National Olympic Committee (NOC) said doctors advised the coaches to release Tsimanouskaya due to her emotional and psychological state, Reuters reported. (RELATED: Olympic Athlete Seeks Shelter In Polish Embassy To Avoid Returning Home)
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has revoked the accreditation of two Belarusian coaches over their alleged attempt to force sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya to return home to Belarus from the Tokyo Olympics.https://t.co/7BI8uwjRpQ
— Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (@RFERL) August 6, 2021
“The head coach came to me with the team representative and they said there was a decision made to send me home, we are not the ones who made the decision, we are only executing it,” the sprinter told Reuters Thursday, according to Fox News. “You have 40 minutes. You have to pack your things and go to the airport.”
Mass demonstrations and upheaval have erupted in Belarus since the nation’s presidential election that reelected Alexander Lukashenko to his sixth term in office in August, 2020, NPR reported. The U.S. and several European nations have said it was neither free nor fair, including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo referring to the election as “fraudulent.”
Hundreds of thousands of protesters have been arrested due to their opposition to Lukashenko’s presidency. In October, police used stun grenades on 100,000 demonstrators demanding the president’s resignation.
The sprinter was one of more than 2,000 Belarusian athletes to sign a letter urging the government to establish a new election and free political prisoners, AFP reported.
While at the airport, Tsimanouskaya’s grandmother advised her to travel to Poland rather than home due to fears that she would be sent to a psychiatric ward, according to Fox News. The athlete feared for her life over the current political upheaval in Belarus, leading her to plead airport security for protection.
After spending two nights in Poland’s embassy in Japan, Tsimanouskaya found refuge in Warsaw, Poland, Wednesday where she and her husband were granted humanitarian visas, according to Reuters. The Olympic sprinter urged Belarusians “to stop being afraid and to speak out if they feel some pressure” shortly after her arrival to Poland, according to AFP.