Belarus Runner Showed Japanese Police Plea for Help on Phone
Krystsina Tsimanouskaya said her grandmother advised her not to return to Belarus but she urged her fellow citizens “not to be afraid.”
- Published
This article was republished here with permission from The Associated Press, however it is no longer available to read on Snopes.com.
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A Belarusian Olympic sprinter who criticized her coaches at the Tokyo Games said Thursday that she showed police at the airport a translated plea for help on her phone as she tried to avoid being put on a plane back home. Krystsina Tsimanouskaya left the Games and arrived in Poland on Wednesday, days after she accused team officials of trying to force her to fly back to Belarus, where an authoritarian…