The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has taken the first steps in the case of the sprinter Kristina Timanowskaja, who traveled to Poland.

Head coach Yuri Moissewitsch and Artur Schumak, the deputy head of the training center for Belarusian athletes, had their Olympic accreditation withdrawn, said IOC President Thomas Bach at a press conference in Tokyo on Friday.

This is the case, Timanovskaya accuses the Belarusian NOK of attempting kidnapping, but not finished, said Bach.

The IOC had opened a formal investigation through its disciplinary committee.

Christoph Becker

Sports editor.

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After the crackdown on democratic protests as a result of the presidential elections in August 2020 and the state repression of numerous athletes, the IOC took measures last autumn against dictator Alexandr Lukashenko, who had also been president of the National Olympic Committee of Belarus. The IOC does not recognize the handover of office to his son Viktor, both are excluded from all Olympic activities. The disciplinary commission will continue to investigate the handling of Timanovskaya "and draw its conclusions," said Bach on Friday.

The Belarusian NOK announced that it would reserve the right to object to the withdrawal of accreditation. Kristina Timanowskaja, who was offered a humanitarian visa by Poland and who is now in the neighboring country, told Reuters from Warsaw on Thursday that her grandmother warned her with a phone call while she was being brought from the Olympic village to the airport. Accordingly, she had to expect to be admitted to psychiatry in Belarus. She then went into police custody at Tokyo's Haneda Airport.

The Belarusian NOK tried to justify Timanovskaya's departure from Tokyo with psychological problems. In a recording of a conversation between Shumak, Moissewitsch and Timanovskaya, presumably recorded in the Olympic village and transcribed by the Riga-based platform Meduza, with reference to the fact that the authenticity of Timanovskaya was not confirmed, the voice assigned to Shumak says: "The following instruction has been received : You're going home. Much is asked of you: you come home, you do not write anything anywhere, you do not make any statements. You will get all of this in writing from me, word for word, everything they have told me so that nothing happens later. If you want to start again for the Republic of Belarus, then listen to what they recommend.“The two officials recommend her to put her pride aside and follow the instructions, otherwise she could“ unfortunately feel like suicides ”.

"I wanted to run for medals"

Timanovskaya had originally complained on social networks that she had been lined up for the 4 × 400 meter relay, even though she is a short distance sprinter.

When she arrived in Warsaw, the 24-year-old athlete pointed out that she was not originally one of the athletes who took to the streets last year against Lukashenko and his holding on to power. “I'm an athlete, I don't know anything about political life. I have always stayed away from politics, I have not signed any letters, I have not said anything against the government. I wanted to run for medals. ”However, she is also not a person who is afraid. “They think we are afraid to act, we are afraid to speak, we are afraid to tell the world the truth. But I'm not afraid. "

The fact that Alexandr Lukashenko continues to devote himself to sport in his country in detail is proven by the ongoing reporting on these issues by the state news agency BelTA. An example: On May 4, Lukashenko called a working meeting with the NOK President, his son. The following questions were discussed with a view to Tokyo: “How is the situation? How many athletes are qualified? Are our athletes ready for the Olympics? ”The agency did not report what answers Viktor Lukashenko gave at the time. On July 9th, the dictator said that every success of an athlete is not just a personal success, but a victory against the opponents of his state. 101 Belarusian athletes traveled to Tokyo and have won five medals so far.

At the end of last week, BelTA quoted in detail how angry Lukashenko is about the inadequate performance of athletes who are too full. While underperformance in football is mainly due to the wives of the players who stared at their iPhones while cheering the red-white-red opposition, the coaches were primarily to blame for the Olympic failure.