Sprinter who refused orders to travel back home over safety concerns expected to travel onwards to Poland, which has granted her a humanitarian visa.
Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, the Belarusian Olympian athlete who days ago refused her team’s orders to travel home early from the Games, arrived in Vienna on Wednesday after leaving Tokyo to seek refuge in Europe.
The 24-year-old sprinter, who has claimed she fears for her safety in her native Belarus, was granted a humanitarian visa by Poland following Sunday’s standoff.
After spending two nights in Poland’s embassy in the Japanese capital, she walked onto a plane at Tokyo’s Narita airport on Wednesday wearing jeans, a blue blouse and sunglasses with “I RUN CLEAN” written on them.
Before leaving Japan, Tsimanouskaya said she hoped she could continue her career but that safety was her immediate priority.
She had been expected leave the Japanese capital on a flight to Warsaw, but a Polish government source told Reuters she switched planes last minute due to security concerns after news of the plan became public and reporters booked seats on the Poland-bound flight.
She was expected to travel onwards to the Polish capital later on Wednesday.
Safe and well’
Concern was particularly high because of an incident in May, when a Ryanair flight was diverted to land in Belarus and a dissident journalist was subsequently arrested, the Polish government source said.
Poland’s deputy foreign minister Marcin Przydacz said Tsimanouskaya was in the care of the country’s diplomatic services during her journey.
“She is safe and is doing well under the circumstances,” Magnus Brunner, Austria’s deputy environment minister, told reporters after Tsimanouskaya’s Austrian Airlines flight touched down in Vienna.
“She is naturally worried and excited and nervous about what will happen next for her.”
Tsimanouskaya is set to be reunited in Poland with her husband, Arseniy Zdanevich, who fled Belarus amid this week’s developments.
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