Warsaw, SAEDNEWS: In an exclusive interview with Reuters in Warsaw, she said her family feared she would be sent to a psychiatric ward if she went back to Belarus, and that her grandmother had called her to tell her not to return.
“I am not one of those people who are scared. I am always staying for the truth. I respect myself. I respect my work.”
“They were using enigmas, they used strange expressions about a net that I would get tangled in, that it would lead to inevitable consequences which would cause other people being fired and that it would be not good for you to. There were no direct threats. But I could understand it.”
The 24-year-old athlete caused a furore on Sunday when she said coaches angry at her criticism had ordered her to fly home from Tokyo. After seeking protection from Japanese police, she flew on Wednesday to Poland instead of Belarus.
Poland, which has long been critical of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko and harbored many activists from Belarus, has granted Tsimanouskaya and her husband humanitarian visas but her grandmother remains there.
“Grandmother called me when they were already driving me to the airport,” the athlete said. “Literally, I had some 10 seconds. She called me, all that she told me was: ‘Please do not come back to Belarus, it’s not safe.”
Tsimanouskaya’s saga, reminiscent of Cold War sporting defections, threatens to further isolate Lukashenko, who is under Western sanctions after a crackdown on opponents since last year, Reuters reported.
The sprinter, who had criticized negligence by her team coaches, spent two nights in Poland’s embassy in Japan before flying out to Vienna and then Warsaw on Wednesday.
The Belarus National Olympic Committee (NOC) had said coaches withdrew Tsimanouskaya from the Games on doctors’ advice about her emotional and psychological state. It did not immediately respond to requests for additional comment on Thursday.
The International Olympic Committee has started an investigation into Tsimanouskaya’s case and said it would hear from the two Belarusian officials allegedly involved (Source: Aryananews).
Belarus athlete who refused to fly home is granted Polish visa
