Warsaw (AFP)

Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, who refused to return to her country for fear of her future, said Thursday she was "happy to be safe" in Poland to the press in Warsaw.

Threatened with being forcibly repatriated to Belarus after criticizing her country's sporting bodies following a dispute at the Tokyo Olympics, the 24-year-old woman arrived on Wednesday, via Vienna, in Poland, a country where she granted a humanitarian visa.

The sprinter said she was "surprised that the situation has become such a political scandal" given that it was initially a sporting issue.

"I had no idea this situation was going to happen," she revealed.

"I am not thinking of political asylum," she said.

"I just want to continue my sporting career," Tsimanouskaya said, adding that her husband, Arseni Zdanevich, who fled to Ukraine and also obtained a humanitarian visa in Poland, was "already on his way" to join her on Thursday.

The sprinter had claimed on Sunday to have escaped forced repatriation to Belarus, a few days after having openly criticized the athletics federation of her country.

Fearing that she would end up in prison if she returned to Belarus, Krystsina Tsimanouskaya had obtained help from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and police protection while at Tokyo-Haneda airport.

She then took refuge for two nights at the Polish Embassy in the Japanese capital.

Belarus has been rocked by political upheaval and a crackdown on the opposition after contested presidential elections.

Krystsina Tsimanouskaya was one of more than 2,000 Belarusian sports figures who signed an open letter calling for new elections and the release of political prisoners.

But her problems in Tokyo came after she posted a message on her Instagram account criticizing her coaches for entering her in a race without notifying him first.

"My parents told me that they spoke badly of me on television (Belarusian, editor's note). I received a lot of bad messages, but I received even more messages of support," said himself. she rejoices.

© 2021 AFP