Japanese Government Confirms That Belarusian Runner Tsimanouskaya Is Safe

Japanese Government Confirms That Belarusian Runner Tsimanouskaya Is Safe

TOKYO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 02nd August, 2021) The Japanese government is aware of the incident involving Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya (Kristina Timanovskaya), Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said on Monday, confirming that the athlete is safe.

Kato told journalists that Tsimanouskaya has the support of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the organizers of the Tokyo Games and that the Japanese government is interacting with all the organizations involved.

Tsimanouskaya released a video via social media on Sunday claiming that Belarusian authorities were "forcibly" trying to make her return to her home country. She asked the IOC to intervene. The National Olympic Committee of Belarus said that the coaching staff of the Belarusian athletics team decided to send the sprinter home due to her emotional and psychological state.

Tsimanouskaya herself claimed that the Belarusian Olympic Committee had decided to send her back to Belarus because she complained on Instagram about getting scheduled to run in the 4x400m relay, after some members of the Belarusian team were found to be ineligible to compete due to insufficient doping testing.

The Belarusian opposition sports Solidarity Fund said that Tsimanouskaya wanted to seek asylum in Europe as she was allegedly being forced to leave Tokyo without her consent. Several countries have reportedly offered to provide political protection to the Belarusian athlete.

IOC Spokesman Mark Adams told reporters on Monday that Tsimanouskaya had spent the night at an airport hotel in Tokyo and was now safe and under the protection of local authorities.