Tokyo 2020 - Krystsina Tsimanouskaya reveals she was told 'do not come back' to Belarus before leaving Tokyo

ByJames Walker-Roberts

Updated 05/08/2021 at 18:44 GMT

Krystsina Tsimanouskaya said that she was taken to the airport in Tokyo by Belarus team officials to fly home against her wishes after publicly complaining about the national team on Instagram. But on the way to the airport she was warned not to return and has managed to travel instead to Poland. You want it? We have it. Stream every Olympic event live on discovery+

Belarusian athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya says she was warned not to go home by her grandmother after fleeing to Poland under diplomatic protection.

Tsimanouskaya said earlier this week that she was taken to the airport in Tokyo by team officials to fly home against her wishes after publicly complaining about the national team.

The 24-year-old refused her team’s orders and is now in Poland, where she has been given a humanitarian visa.

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She has revealed that she was on her way to the airport in Tokyo when she got her a call from her grandmother telling her “do not come back”.

“I couldn't believe it but I asked, 'Are you sure?' And she said, 'Yes. I'm sure. Do not come back'," Tsimanouskaya told the BBC.

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"That was the reason why I went to the police."

Tsimanouskaya was given police protection at the airport in Tokyo after showing officers a translated plea for help on her phone.

She says she was removed from her team because she "spoke on my Instagram about the negligence of our coaches".

Belarus, which has been ruled by authoritarian president Alexander Lukashenko since 1994, was gripped by mass protests last year.

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Tsimanouskaya insists she is "not a political girl" and just wants to focus on her career as a sprinter. She was due to compete in the women’s 200m on Monday.

"I don't know anything about politics. I never was in politics," she said.

The BBC report that Tsimanouskaya’s husband has also fled Belarus and has been given a visa for Poland.

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