Belarus Athlete Leaves Japan On Vienna-Bound Flight

The 24-year-old sprinter had been expected to take a direct flight to Warsaw but switched at the last minute, an airport official told reporters.

Belarusian Olympic athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya left Japan on a Vienna-bound flight Wednesday and was expected to head for Poland, where she has been offered a humanitarian visa. The 24-year-old sprinter had been expected to take a direct flight to Warsaw but switched at the last minute, an airport official told reporters. She boarded the flight at Narita airport outside Tokyo after travelling from the Polish embassy where she had spent the past two nights following claims her team tried to force her to return home after she criticised her coaches. Tsimanouskaya declined to speak to the media at the airport, and her flight took off shortly after 11 am local time (0200 GMT).