According to the Foreign Minister, Austria had also accepted the Belarusian athlete: “We were expecting her.”
As reported by KURIER, the Belarusian athlete Kristina Timanowskaja was supposed to be flown back from Tokyo to her home country against her will on Sunday after criticizing a trainer on Instagram.
The Olympic sprinter then asked the IOC for help. “I'm under pressure and they're trying to get me out of the country against my will,” said the 24-year-old in a video. She told Reuters news agency that she “will not return to Belarus”.
Asylum in Poland
As a result, a real thriller developed around the question of how and where the sprinter continued. According to Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg, Austria would have been ready to accept Timanovskaya. “We were expecting her. It's up to her what she chooses,” he said in an interview with the press .
In addition to the Czech Republic and Slovenia, Poland had also offered the sprinter asylum. Poland immediately issued her a humanitarian visa and was in direct contact with her, said Poland's Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz on Twitter, adding that Poland will do whatever it takes to help her and continue her sports career.
Kryscina Tsimanouskaya a Belarusian athlet is already in direct contact with Polish diplomats in Tokyo. She has received a humanitarian Visa. Poland will do whatever is necessary to help her to continue her sporting career. 🇵🇱 always stands for Solidarity.
– Marcin Przydacz (@marcin_przydacz) August 2, 2021
On Monday, Timanowskaja arrived at the Polish embassy in Tokyo. She is scheduled to leave for Warsaw shortly. But Austria would also have been ready to help. “Austria is not bowing down,” says the Foreign Minister. However, unlike Poland or the Czech Republic, she was not offered any protection or a visa publicly.
Austrian Embassy in Tokyo
Kristina Timanowskaja did not report to the Austrian embassy in Tokyo and “the athlete has not yet been contacted,” said a spokesman for the Austrian Foreign Ministry of the APA on Sunday afternoon.
Media reports on the case are known to the ministry, he stressed. However, asylum applications can in principle only be made personally and in relation to Austrian asylum in Austria itself, he referred at the same time to the current legal situation.
IOC initiates an investigation
The International Olympic Committee has opened a formal investigation. “We have to establish all the facts and hear everyone involved before we take any further action,” said IOC spokesman Mark Adams on Tuesday. The IOC had requested a statement from the Belarusian Olympic Committee, the deadline expired on Tuesday, according to Adams.
The IOC spokesman did not want to say when the IOC would complete its investigation. “These things take time. We have to get to the bottom of it,” he said. Previously, sports associations such as Athleten Deutschland and Global Athlete had requested a ban on the NOK of Belarus.
Timanovskaya had assured the IOC in several talks that she felt “safe and protected,” said Adams. The 24-year-old is in a safe place. The IOC had also contacted the National Olympic Committee of Poland with the question of how to support Timanovskaya in the future. “Our very first and foremost priority is the safety of athletes,” said Adams. The approach of the IOC should not only encourage Belarusian athletes, but also all athletes that they will meet with open ears at the umbrella organization with their concerns.
