Dhe Belarusian sprinter Kristina Timanowskaja left Tokyo for Austria on Wednesday. It is believed that she will travel on to Warsaw from there. Poland had offered her a humanitarian visa. Her arrival in Vienna was expected in the afternoon. The flight route was changed from Warsaw to Vienna for security reasons, reported the news agency Reuters, citing a member of the Belarusian community who is close to the sprinter.
Timanovskaya refused a return flight to Belarus on Sunday and placed himself under the protection of the Japanese authorities at Tokyo airport. According to her, the regime in Belarus had refused to start her over 200 meters and forced her to return home against her will. The reason is said to have been the athlete’s critical remarks about the sports management of the Belarusian team.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Wednesday that it had received the report on the incident requested by Belarus. The disciplinary commission will now examine the facts, said an IOC spokesman. He announced that he would be questioning two Belarusian officials who are believed to be involved in the incident. These are the team’s head coach, Yuri Moissevich, and the deputy head of the Belarus Athletics Training Center, Artur Shumak.
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