Competitive athletes were among the first to protest after the alleged re-election of Aleksandar Lukashenko as President of Belarus almost exactly a year ago.
It was embarrassing for the ruler because it was precisely these people who always had to serve as the figureheads of his regime.
There has now been an escalation at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Sprinter Kristina Timanowskaja was supposed to travel home from the games against her will.
Her "crime" was known to the extent that she criticized Belarusian sports officials. She resisted leaving the country and fortunately received support from the International Olympic Committee (IOC). This was probably relatively easy for the IOC, not least because the body is already in a dispute with Belarus over the appointment of the head of the national Olympic Committee.
The sportswoman will find a country in the EU - probably Poland - that will grant her asylum. Her husband is supposed to be in Ukraine. It is to be hoped that both are really safe, but unfortunately by no means certain after the experiences of the past few months. After all, Lukashenko was once again exposed on the big international stage. How something like this can end has been known since the hijacking of a Ryanair plane to Minsk, one of whose passengers was an opposition blogger.