1 of 6Foto: ISSEI KATO / X90003
Sprinter Kristina Timanovskaya claims that she is forced to leave the Olympics. Now she is asking the International Committee of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IOC) for help.
–
“I will not return to Belarus,” Timanovskaya told Reuters.
– I fear that they will put me in jail. I’m not afraid of being kicked out of the national team. I fear for my safety. At the moment I do not think it is safe for me in Belarus, she says to Tribuna.
See everything from the Olympics in Tokyo on discovery +
–
She claims that parts of the coaching staff lined up in her hotel room and asked her to pack her things on Sunday. She was scheduled to participate in the 200 meter night until Monday.
“Timanovskaya is out of the Olympics due to her emotional and psychological condition,” the Belarussian Olympic Committee explained, according to RIA Novosti.
The sprinter himself dismisses it on Instagram: “It’s a lie”.
– No doctors have talked to me, no one has examined me. I have good mental health, despite the situation that has arisen, says Timanovskaya to Tribuna.
—-Photo: INSTAGRAM/@Kristi_Timanovskaya
––
She has now sought police protection at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport. Representatives of Turkish Airlines say she has not checked in for the return that would have taken her via Istanbul, according to the Telegram channel Nexta and the news city year TASS.
AP and several other news agencies are following the situation from the airport. So far, she has not left the police premises.
Timanovskaya claims that she is thrown out of the games because she has commented on the coaches’ neglect. She was – against her will – set up to run the 4×400 meter relay after several athletes did not meet the anti-doping criteria required to start. They had not undergone enough doping tests in advance.
– I talked about this publicly and the head coach said that there had been an order from above to remove me.
“I would never have been so angry if I had been asked in advance and explained the situation […] But an attempt was made behind my back, while I sought information and was ignored “, Timanovskaya wrote two days ago, as an explanation that she had gone out against her own team leaders.
Now she is asking the International Olympic Committee for help.
– They are trying to force me out of the country against my will.
An IOC press representative tells RIA Novosti that they are monitoring the situation and awaiting an explanation from the Belarus Olympic Committee.
Japanese police would not comment on the case to Reuters. VG has not succeeded in getting in touch with Timanovskaya.
VG updates the case.
–
