Tokyo/Warsaw: Belarusian Olympic sprinter Kristina Timanovskaya, who refused to return to her country from Tokyo, fearing she would be jailed there, reached Warsaw via Vienna on August 4, 2021 evening, where the Polish government granted her visa on humanitarian grounds. Her husband Arseni Zdanevich too applied for humanitarian visa and granted one by Poland. He had reached Ukraine from Belarus on Monday August 2 – the day when his wife was supposed to participate in the women’s 200 meters at the Tokyo Olympics, but instead accused her team officials of trying to forcibly send her back to Belarus against her wishes since she had condemned her country’s sporting authorities. It was on the very same day – August 2, that Timanovskaya, 24, had accepted an offer of asylum in Poland. Earlier on August 1, reports suggest that representatives of the Belarusian national team had bought Tymanskaya a plane ticket and brought her to the airport. The athlete, onlyfew days ago, had spoken about the mistakes of officials.
Timanovskaya was seen arriving at Tokyo’s Narita airport on August 4 morning with luggage and wearing blue jeans and a blue sweatshirt. She later boarded Austrian Airlines flight OS52, which took off at 11 a.m. local time and landed at Vienna International Airport in the afternoon after slightly changing its course over western Russia and avoiding Belarus airspace. Her flight’s live footage was shown by Reuters.
Poland’s Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz said in a tweet that Kristina Timanovskaya had safely landed in Warsaw. “I want to thank all Polish consular & diplomatic staff involved, who flawlessly planned and secured her safe journey. Poland continues to show its solidarity and support,” he said in his tweet.
Kriscina Cimanouska has safely landed in Warsaw. I want to thank all Polish consular&diplomatic staff involved, who flawlessly planned and secured her safe journey. Poland 🇵🇱 continues to show its solidarity and support. https://t.co/9ScZUUyP8d
— Marcin Przydacz (@marcin_przydacz) August 4, 2021
In an earlier tweet before Timanovskaya ‘s arrival in Poland, Przydacz had informed that the Belarusian athlete was being taken care of by the Polish diplomatic service. “As stated on numerous occasions, due to security considerations we do not disclose the flight details,” he had tweeted.
Mrs. Kriscina Cinanouska is being taken care of by the Polish diplomatic service. As stated on numerous occasions, due to security considerations we do not disclose the flight details. https://t.co/EPhHQIN4rs
— Marcin Przydacz (@marcin_przydacz) August 4, 2021
It was on August 3, that Przydacz had appeared on CNN to discuss the Belarusian Olympian being granted a Polish humanitarian visa. In a separate interview to Skynews that day, he had said that the most important [thing] for Poland was to stop the procedure of hijacking people, forcing them against their will and taking them to Belarus. “And that’s what we’ve done. We’ve given them an opportunity to come to Poland safe and secure.”
In an Instagram post, which has since been removed, Timanovskaya had claimed that team officials had made her pack her belongings, saying she was being cut from the Olympic team and flown back to Minsk. She was taken to Haneda airport on Sunday but refused to board the flight from Japan saying she feared for her safety back home.
She had further accused her team officials of threatening her for going against a decision to enter her into the 4×400 meter relay – without her consent. This was an event in which she had never competed before, she had claimed while stating that her trainers didn’t tell her who had made the decision to send her home.
According to a New York Times’ report, the entire episode sheds light on a dictatorship in Belarus where no sphere of life can evade politics. “President Aleksandr Lukashenko, who has led Belarus for 27 years, has long used sports as a propaganda tool, leading athletes to fear reprisal at any sign of dissent or poor performance,” the report claimed.
– global bihari bureau
