Tsimanouskaya qualified to represent Belarus at the 2020 Summer Olympics in the women's 100 m and 200 m events. On 30 July 2021, during the Games, she accused officials from the Belarus Olympic Committee of forcing her to compete in the 4×400 metres relay and entering her name for the race without her consent. On 1 August 2021, she was taken to Tokyo's Haneda Airport against her will, where she refused to board a flight to Belarus. She was eventually given police protection and granted a humanitarian visa by Poland, where she was later given Polish citizenship.
In August 2023, the World Athletics Nationality Review Panel waived the normal three-year waiting period for nationality changes, allowing her to compete for Poland.[2]
Early life
Krystsina Siarheyeuna Tsimanouskaya was born in Klimavichy, a town in eastern Belarus.[6] Though she raced for fun as a child, she joined competitive athletics late, receiving an offer from an Olympic trainer to join his academy when she was about 15 years old. Her parents were initially worried, thinking she would not achieve an athletic career; they were convinced by Tsimanouskaya and her grandmother.[6]
Tsimanouskaya qualified for her first Olympics in the 100 m and 200 m events, representing Belarus. On 30 July 2021 (postponed from 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic), she finished 4th in the first round heat of the 100 m event with a time of 11.47.[7] Prior to the 200 m event, Belarus Olympic Committee (NOC RB) officials withdrew her from the competition.[8][9][10] On 2 August, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) rejected Tsimanouskaya's request to annul the decision of the NOC RB to stop her from participating at the Tokyo Olympics, stating that she was unable to prove her case.[11][12] On 3 August, the CAS clarified that its judgement was based on the fact that Tsimanouskaya could not prove she would still attempt to compete at Tokyo while she was in the process of seeking asylum in other countries.[13]
On 30 July 2021, Tsimanouskaya recorded an Instagram video criticising officials from the Belarus Olympic Committee (NOC RB), saying that they had entered her in the 4 × 400 m relay race, a distance she had never contested, without her consent.[14][15][16] On 1 August 2021, Belarusian media reported the attempt to forcibly return Tsimanouskaya to Belarus.[17] Tsimanouskaya said to journalists that she was afraid of returning to Belarus,[18] and she intended to claim asylum.[19][20] After contacting airport police, on 2 August, she was granted a humanitarian visa to Poland.[21][22][23]
Though most of western Europe had offered her protection, she reportedly chose to seek asylum in Poland as the country had expressly offered her the opportunity to continue competing;[24] the IOC made contact with officials from the Polish Olympic Committee (PKOI) regarding Tsimanouskaya resuming competition.[13] On 4 August, Tsimanouskaya flew to Warsaw Chopin Airport, where she was met by Polish officials and Belarusian expatriates.[25] President of the IOC Thomas Bach and the Japanese foreign ministry both gave statements on 6 August describing what happened to Tsimanouskaya as "deplorable" and "unjust".[26]
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