• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • World
  • Social
  • Crypto Currencies
  • Privacy Policy

NewsOTP

You Everyday Online News

Belarusian Olympic sprinter Seeks Refuge in Japan, Fearing Jail at Home

August 2, 2021 by World News

TOKYO|

A Belarusian sprinter said Sunday that she was under the protection of the Japanese police after her country’s Olympic Committee tried, but failed, to forcibly send her home after she criticized her coaches for registering her for the wrong event.

The sprinter, Kristina Timanovskaya, announced Sunday evening on Instagram that she had sought protection in Japan because she feared for her safety in Belarus, where the country’s strongman leader, Aleksander G. Lukashenko, in power for 27 years, has sought to stifle any dissent.

“I am afraid that in Belarus they might put me in jail,” Ms. Timanovskaya told the independent Belarusian news portal Zerkalo.io. “I am not afraid that I will be fired or kicked out of the national team, I am worried about my safety. And I think that at the moment it is not safe for me in Belarus.”The Belarusian National Olympic Committee, which is run by Mr. Lukashenko’s eldest son, Victor Lukashenko, said on Sunday that it had withdrawn Ms. Timanovskaya from the Games because of her “emotional and psychological state” after consulting with a doctor.

Ms. Timanovskaya denied being examined by any doctors and said she was in good physical and psychological health. She said she had been forcibly removed from her country’s team because “I spoke on my Instagram about the negligence of our coaches.”In a video taken at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, she asked the International Olympic Committee for support.In a statement, the I.O.C. said it had been in touch with Ms. Timanovskaya directly. She was at the Haneda Airport, the I.O.C. said, and was accompanied by a member of Tokyo 2020.

“She has told us that she feels safe,” the statement said.
The I.O.C. and Tokyo 2020 will continue conversations with Ms. Timanovskaya and the authorities in coming days, the statement said, to determine next steps.

Kazuya Isozaki, a spokesman for the Tokyo Metropolitan Police department, would neither confirm nor deny reports that Ms. Timanovskaya was in Japanese custody or had applied for asylum at Haneda Airport.“We don’t even know whether the police will take care of this or not,” Mr. Isozaki said.The Reuters news agency said that one of its photographers saw Ms. Timanovskaya with the police at the airport and that she had said, “I think I am safe.”

Ms. Timanovskaya, 24, was to participate in the Olympic Games for the first time this summer in the 200-meter sprint. But she said she was informed that she would be running the 4×400-meter relay race because some team members had not taken enough antidoping tests to qualify for the event.“I’m outraged!” she told Zerkalo.io from the airport. “After all, we came to the Olympic Games, and it is against all the rules to declare us for a distance event which we have never competed in our life. This is a complete disrespect for athletes,” she said, describing the situation as “complete chaos.”

She told Zerkalo.io that on Sunday, her coaches and a representative of the national team had come to her room and told her to pack her things. She said she was told that if she did not return, she would lose her position on the national team, be deprived of work and face “possibly other consequences.” She said she was told that the decision was not made by the athletic federation or the Ministry of Sports, “but at a higher level.”
“They said I need to be eliminated from the Olympics and returned home because I interfere with the team’s performance,” she told Zerkalo.io.Belarus was convulsed by protests following last August’s disputed presidential elections. Since then, President Lukashenko has indicated he will not brook any dissent, jailing opposition politicians, critics, journalists and a number of athletes who signed a petition in October condemning his government’s use of violence, according to the Belarusian Sport Solidarity Foundation.

Pavel Slunkin, a former Belarusian diplomat who is now with the European Council on Foreign Relations, said Ms. Timanovskaya’s criticism was focused on bureaucratic negligence and was not political.
“The regime persecutes everyone that publicly criticizes it,” he said, adding that he believed the president personally made the decision to bring Ms. Timanovskaya home.Mr. Lukashenko “likes sports so much and has been using sports victories for political reasons during all his rule,” Mr. Slunkin said. “So when he is criticized by sportsmen or sportswomen, he really doesn’t take it well.”The forced removal of Ms. Timanovskaya from the Games is the latest in a string of international incidents that have led Belarus to become increasingly isolated internationally.

In May, the Belarusian authorities forced down a RyanAir plane flying from Athens to Vilnius, Lithuania, that was carrying Roman Protasevich, a blogger who worked for a website that helped direct anti-government protesters last year. After being detained, he was released to house arrest in late June.Mr. Lukashenko has also been accused of punishing the European Union by flooding the 27-member bloc with migrants because the E.U. imposed sanctions following the disputed election and the diversion of the RyanAir flight.Belarus’s exiled opposition leader, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who claimed victory in last August’s elections before fleeing to neighboring Lithuania, called on the I.O.C. to take on Ms. Timanovskaya’s case.“She has a right to international protection & to continue participation in the @Olympics,” she wrote on Twitter.

—–Updated —-

She told Zerkalo.io that on Sunday, her coaches and a representative of the national team had come to her room and told her to pack her things. She said she was told that if she did not return, she would lose her position on the national team, be deprived of work and face “possibly other consequences.” She said she was told that the decision was not made by the athletic federation or the Ministry of Sports, “but at a higher level.”

“They said I need to be eliminated from the Olympics and returned home because I interfere with the team’s performance,” she told Zerkalo.io.Belarus was convulsed by protests following last August’s disputed presidential elections. Since then, President Lukashenko has indicated he will not brook any dissent, jailing opposition politicians, critics, journalists and a number of athletes who signed a petition in October condemning his government’s use of violence, according to the Belarusian Sport Solidarity Foundation.Pavel Slunkin, a former Belarusian diplomat who is now with the European Council on Foreign Relations, said Ms. Timanovskaya’s criticism was focused on bureaucratic negligence and was not political.

“The regime persecutes everyone that publicly criticizes it,” he said, adding that he believed the president personally made the decision to bring Ms. Timanovskaya home.Mr. Lukashenko “likes sports so much and has been using sports victories for political reasons during all his rule,” Mr. Slunkin said. “So when he is criticized by sportsmen or sportswomen, he really doesn’t take it well.”The forced removal of Ms. Timanovskaya from the Games is the latest in a string of international incidents that have led Belarus to become increasingly isolated internationally.

In May, the Belarusian authorities forced down a RyanAir plane flying from Athens to Vilnius, Lithuania, that was carrying Roman Protasevich, a blogger who worked for a website that helped direct anti-government protesters last year.Mr. Lukashenko has also been accused of punishing the European Union by flooding the 27-member bloc with migrants because the E.U. imposed sanctions following the disputed election and the diversion of the RyanAir flight.Belarus’s exiled opposition leader, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who claimed victory in last August’s elections before fleeing to neighboring Lithuania, called on the I.O.C. to take on Ms. Timanovskaya’s case.

“She has a right to international protection & to continue participation in the @Olympics,” she wrote on Twitter.Valerie Hopkins reported from Vienna. Tariq Panja, Motoko Rich and Makiko Inoue contributed reporting from Tokyo.

@NYTIMES

Filed Under: Social

Primary Sidebar

You May Like

Colombian Archer’s Innocent & Sweet Beauty Got Spotlight In Tokyo Olympics

TOKYO| Valentina Acosta Giraldo was known as a swimming athlete and footballer. But in Tokyo Olympics 2021, she surprised a lot of people when competing in archery. More than that, her breathtaking beauty got the spotlight in this sports tournament. Colombian Archer’s Breathtaking Beauty Valentina Acosta Giraldo is only 21 years old now. She is […]

Cameraman Focuses On Cockroach In Tokyo Olympics Live Broadcast Instead Of Hockey Match(VIDEO)

TOKYO | A cameraman decided to focus on a cockroach during the live broadcast of women’s hockey event between Spain and Agentina, which was aired on Argentinian TV network TyC Sports. This year’s Olympic Games are giving us a good dose of viral news and videos. The latest one to send us laughing is a […]

UK warns China as dispatches carrier group to Japan

LONDON| Britain announced Tuesday its most powerful navy task force in a generation will visit five ports in Japan, warning China against any threats to freedom of navigation in the region’s tense seas. A strike group of Royal Navy ships spearheaded by the giant new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth is en route to the […]

‘Olympic Jail’ – Quarantined Dutch athletes demand fresh air

TOKYO| Dutch Olympic athletes in hotel quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19 said they went on “strike” over a lack of fresh air in their rooms, winning 15 minutes a day at an open window. All six isolated team members from the Netherlands took part in the protest in the hotel lobby, said taekwondo fighter […]

Japanese Stationery Company Develops Translucent Eraser

JAPAN| The first eraser was invented in 1770 by English engineer Edward Nairne, and it has since been updated by various manufacturers into countless types, shapes, and sizes. But this staple correction tool has always had one flaw—you can’t see what you’re rubbing out. This is now a problem of the past thanks to Japanese […]

Japanese anime Belle receives a 14-minute standing ovation at Cannes

Mamoru Hosoda’s latest film, Belle (Ryū to Sobakasu no Hime, literally “The Dragon and the Freckled Princess”), has reportedly received a 14-minute-long standing ovation by its audience following its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. Screening out of competition in the Cannes Premieres section with Hosoda in attendance, Belle reportedly received a 14-minute standing […]

Artist Uses Dried Out Leaves, Twigs And Other Natural Materials To Create Mandala-Like Artworks

ART| What do you do with dried leaves and twigs you find in your garden? Sweep them away, isn’t it? Well, James Brunt is one person who uses his highly creative mind to produce ephemeral artworks from such natural materials. And he even goes into forests, parks, and beaches near his home in Yorkshire, England […]

Chinese Embassy Blasts Reuters For Using Ugly Photo Of Weightlifter Who Won Gold

TOKYO| The Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka criticized Reuters for its photo choice about Zhihui Hou’s first-place finish in the Women’s 49kg Weightlifting competition. Hou set Olympic records in three different categories — snatch, clean and jerk, and total — bagged gold on July 24 with a total of 210 kilograms (462.971 pounds) and created a […]

The Philippines Wins Its First Olympic Gold After Nearly 100 Years Of Trying

TOKYO| Hidilyn Diaz of the Philippines celebrates winning the women’s 55-kilogram weightlifting match at the Tokyo 2020 Games — her country’s first Olympic gold medal. Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz made history Monday, winning the Philippines’ first gold medal at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo. The country had been trying to reach the podium’s top spot for […]

WHO chief warns that the world is going into the ‘early stages of another wave’

The world is in the early stages of another wave of Covid-19 infections and death, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday. Speaking to International Olympic Committee members in Tokyo, Tedros said the global failure to share vaccines, tests and treatments is fueling a “two-track pandemic.” Countries that have adequate resources like vaccines […]

Copyright © 2025 · Magazine Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in