International Olympic Committee to investigate Belarus officials over athlete’s forced flight

International Olympic Committee to investigate Belarus officials over athlete’s forced flight
Belarus athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, who claimed her team tried to force her to leave Japan following a row during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, walks with her luggage inside the Polish embassy in Tokyo on August 2, 2021. (Photo by Yuki IWAMURA / AFP)
Tuesday 3 August 2021 - 09:30

Olympic officials said on Tuesday that they will be opening an investigation into Belarus over allegations that the team tried to force athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya to return home after she criticized her coaches.

International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams said the body was launching a formal investigation and also expected a report from Belarus’s Olympic committee today.

The athlete Is sheltering in Poland’s embassy in Tokyo, saying that she fears for her safety if she returns to Belarus. Poland has offered her a humanitarian visa and she is expected to travel there soon.

Tsimanouskaya was one of more than 2 000 Belarusian sports figures who signed an open letter calling for new elections in Belarus and for political prisoners to be freed following President Lukashenko’s crackdown on dissent.

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