Belarus sprinter refuses to leave Tokyo

Track athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya sought out Japanese police at Tokyo’s Haneda airport on Sunday after she alleged the Belarus Olympic team officials tried to force her to return home. The 24-year-old sprinter had criticized her country’s team officials after they registered her for the 4x400 relay, an event in which she said she’s never raced. Tsimanouskaya said in a filmed message that the team officials pressured her and “they are trying to forcibly take me out of the country” for speaking against the authorities. She was scheduled to compete in the women’s 200-meter preliminaries on Monday.

What comes next for her? The International Olympic Committee on Monday confirmed the Japanese police and the United Nations Human Rights Commission are involved in the case. The Belarusian Sport Solidarity Foundation said she is at the Polish embassy seeking a visa that would allow her to request political asylum in Poland. The Belarusian Olympic Committee in a statement said coaches withdrew Tsimanouskaya from the competition due to a doctor’s advice on her “emotional, psychological state.”

Dig deeper: Read Ray Hacke’s report about athlete protests at the Olympics.