Tokyo, The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the organizers of the Tokyo Games have talked to Belarusian sprinter Kristina Timanovskaya who said that she is safe under the protection of local authorities, IOC Spokesman Mark Adams said.
Timanovskaya, who is competing at the Tokyo Olympics, released a video on 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 Timanovskaya home due to her emotional and psychological state.
A representative of the Belarusian diaspora told Sputnik on Monday that Timanovskaya was not at the Tokyo International Airport and that “she has been taken to a safe place, she is fine.”
Adams told reporters on Monday that the IOC talked with Timanovskaya on Sunday and that she spent the night at a hotel airport and was now under the protection of local authorities. Asked about the possibility of any sanctions against the National Olympic Committee of Belarus in relation to the incident, Adams said that it remains to be seen.
(Agencies)
