Belarusian Olympic athlete says ‘punishment’ awaited her at home

Krystsina Tsimanouskaya alleges threats from officials and calls for a probe into her Olympics withdrawal.

Belarusian Olympian Krystsina Tsimanouskaya is alleging that officials from her country “made it clear” she would face punishment upon returning home from the Tokyo Games after she criticised her team’s management. The 24-year-old sprinter refused to fly home from Tokyo on Sunday, alleging that her team had hustled her to the Japanese capital’s Haneda airport and was trying to force her on board a flight destined for Minsk via Istanbul against her wishes. “They made it clear that upon return home I would definitely face some form of punishment,” she told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “There were also thinly disguised hints that more would await me.”