Reuters first to report on Belarusian sprinter’s defection at Olympics

Reuters was the first to report how a Belarusian sprinter said she was taken to the airport against her wishes to board a flight back home after she publicly complained about national coaches at the Tokyo Olympics. Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, who was due to compete in the women’s 200 metres, told Reuters she did not plan to return to her country and that she had sought the protection of Japanese police at Tokyo’s Haneda airport so she would not have to board the flight. The 24-year-old athlete was granted a humanitarian visa from Poland. Speaking in Poland, Tsimanouskaya said her family had been afraid that if she had returned to Belarus she would be sent to a psychiatric ward.