text: Breaking| Aug 1, 2021, 04:41pm EDT |
  An Olympic sprinter from Belarus is reportedly taking refuge at an airport in Tokyo and refusing to go home after publicly criticizing the team's coaches on Instagram and allegedly being removed from the team in response, the latest high-profile incident of apparent political repression in a country run by a man described as "Europe's last dictator."
  Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, of Belarus, runs in the women's 100-meter run at the 2020 Summer Olympics, ... [+] Friday, July 30, 2021. Tsimanouskaya alleged her Olympic team tried to remove her from Japan in a dispute that led to a standoff Sunday, Aug. 1, at Tokyo's main airport. An activist group supporting Tsimanouskaya said she believed her life was in danger in Belarus and would seek asylum with the Austrian embassy in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
  Kryscina Tsimanouskaya, 24, who was set to compete in the 200m sprint at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, is "safe" at Haneda airport and in the protection of Japanese police, according to a tweet from the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
  Tsimanouskaya said her team's staff had brought her to the airport, according to Reuters, and tried to repatriate her to Belarus without her consent after she posted videos on Instagram earlier in the week that were critical of the team and its coaches.
  After competing Friday in the 100m sprint heats, Tsimanouskaya alleged the coaching staff forced her to register for a relay she didn't train to run because a lack of doping tests made her teammates ineligible.
  The Belarus Olympic Committee— run by the son of the country's president— said they pulled Tsimanouskaya from the event because of her "emotional, psychological state," Reuters reported.
  Tsimanouskaya asked the IOC to intervene in her case and has been assisted by the Belarus Sport Solidarity Foundation (BSSF), a group created to protect athletes from state reprisal against free expression.
  Belarus has seen several shocking instances of repression in the last year, including the imprisonment and alleged torture of other athletes during protests last year, as well as the forced landing of a Ryanair flight in May in order to detain a dissident journalist. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko faced mass protests last year after his reelection was marred by claims of widespread fraud. The strongman has ruled over the country with an iron fist for 26 years, and the country has consistently ranked low on a number of human rights indexes.
  "The IOC and Tokyo 2020 will continue their conversations with Krystsina Tsymanouskaya and the authorities to determine the next steps in the upcoming days," the IOC tweeted.
  Tsimanouskaya plans to request asylum in Germany or Austria, Reuters and other outlets reported based on an anonymous source at the BSSF.