Belarusian sprinter seeks refuge at Polish embassy in Tokyo
A look back at the Tokyo Olympics episode in which Krystsina Tsimanouskaya refused to board a flight home and her husband went to Ukraine.
What happens when an athlete at the Olympic Games refuses to go home? On 2 August 2021, Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya gave one answer: she entered the Polish embassy in Tokyo.
She had refused to board a flight to Belarus at Haneda Airport and had asked Japanese police for protection before going to the embassy. Belarus was competing at the Tokyo Games, which had been postponed from 2020 to 23 July to 8 August 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The case had a Ukrainian connection. Her husband had left Belarus and entered Ukraine, according to reports from that day.
The Japanese government said it would take measures to protect Tsimanouskaya's stay in the country. Several European countries offered her asylum.
Later, Belarus, along with Russia, was barred from competing at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Tokyo was therefore Belarus's last Summer Games appearance as Belarus.
