Warsaw [Poland], August 5 (ANI): Belarusian athlete, Kristina Timanovskaya, who refused to return home early from the Olympics out of fear for her safety has arrived in Poland, where she has been given a humanitarian visa.
The 24-year-old Timanovskaya left Tokyo on Wednesday. The row started after she criticised coaches after being entered into a race at short notice after some teammates were found to be ineligible to compete.
Kristina was set to run the 200m at the Olympics but claimed she was being forced to go home after she publicly criticised her teammates for entering her into the 4x400m relay without her consent.
She told the BBC her actions were not a political protest. “I love my country and I didn’t betray my country.”
“This is about the mistakes that have been made by our officials at the Olympics.”
The athlete left Japan on a Vienna-bound flight after she sought refuge at the Polish embassy in Tokyo for a couple of days. After landing in Austria, she traveled straight to Poland. (ANI)
