Belarusian sprinter 'safe and secure' in Tokyo, IOC presses Belarus for full report - IOC

Record ID: 1629865

  • Title: Belarusian sprinter 'safe and secure' in Tokyo, IOC presses Belarus for full report - IOC
  • Date: 2nd August 2021
  • Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (AUGUST 2, 2021) (REUTERS) NEWS CONFERENCE WITH INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE (IOC) SPOKESPERSON, MARK ADAMS AND TOKYO 2020 ORGANISING COMMITTEE SPOKESPERSON, MASA TAKAYA, IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) IOC SPOKESPERSON, MARK ADAMS, SAYING: "So, together overnight we worked, as I say, we spoke to her (Krystsina Tsimanouskaya), the Tokyo 2020 spoke to her, she is with the police as I understand and there are other agencies talking to her, but I don't think a press conference is the place to tell you, chapter and verse, about her. But you can rest assured that we've spoken to her, she has told us that she is happy and safe and secure." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) IOC SPOKESPERSON, MARK ADAMS, SAYING: "We are supporting her (Tsimanouskaya) and we're listening to her and we want to make sure that she gets what she wants and we support her in that. But let's actually find out what went on. We have asked the (Belarusian) NOC (National Olympic Committee) to come back to us as well to give us their side because at the moment it happened late last night. We were talking to her, I think, at about midnight last night and we're in touch with her again this morning." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) IOC SPOKESPERSON, MARK ADAMS, SAYING: "We've been in touch with the NOC as you've seen over the last, about more than a year in discussions with them, and certain people have been forbidden to come here. The details of who we've talked to and what was said and which people are here is not - I don't have that detail with me - but you can rest assured that we have actually been in quite close contact with the NOC for some time." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) IOC SPOKESPERSON, MARK ADAMS, SAYING: "We are, 12 hours afterwards, we've asked them (Belarus) for their full report and we will look at it and then we'll study it and decide if we think that further action needs to be taken. As you can see, in the past year we have taken quite a lot of action against the Belarusian NOC, so we need to look at what they tell us and try to get an idea of what's been going on before we take any further action." (SOUNDBITE) (English) IOC SPOKESPERSON, MARK ADAMS, SAYING (AUDIO STARTS OVER WIDE SHOT): "So overnight it was with... she went to, I understand, she went to the police station and there was someone from Tokyo 2020 and I understand that UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) is now with her as well but the police are still engaged with this issue." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) TOKYO 2020 ORGANISING COMMITTEE SPOKESPERSON, MASA TAKAYA, SAYING: "We don't know how she was able to reach the airport. What I can tell you is that as she requested her protection at the airport we were able to get the attention at the airport." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) IOC SPOKESPERSON, MARK ADAMS, SAYING: "Well, as you say, we have done, you know, quite a lot in terms of working with them where they have contravened the rules, we've taken action and as you will have also seen we have actually suspended any funding from the IOC, apart from the funding that goes to the athletes. So we are working on this, we have to deal with 206 NOCs and each one is very, very different and we have to keep an eye on what's going on but we have taken a number of actions with them and I think we will continue to look at the situation and I don't want to prejudge this one to be honest." NEWS CONFERENCE ENDS, ADAMS LEAVING
  • Embargoed: 16th August 2021 05:26
  • Keywords: Belarus sprinter IOC Krystsina Tsimanouskaya Mark Adams Masa Takaya Olympics Tokyo 2020 Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee
  • Location: TOKYO, JAPAN
  • City: TOKYO, JAPAN
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Asia / Pacific,Olympics,Sport
  • Reuters ID: LVA001EOL6OUF
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: A Belarusian athlete who refused to board a flight after she said she was taken to the airport by her team against her will was "safe and secure" in Tokyo, the International Olympic Committee said on Monday (August 2).
    Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, 24, spent the night in an airport hotel after she sought protection from Japanese police at Haneda airport late on Sunday (August 1), IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said at a media conference.
    A number of agencies were in contact with the sprinter, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, he added.
    Tsimanouskaya, who was due to race in the 200 metre heats at Olympic Stadium on Monday, had her Games cut short when she said she was taken to the airport to board a Turkish Airlines flight.
    She told a Reuters reporter via Telegram that the Belarusian head coach had turned up at her room on Sunday at the athletes village and told her she had to leave.
    But she refused to board the flight, telling Reuters: "I will not return to Belarus."
    The Belarusian Olympic Committee said in a statement coaches had decided to withdraw Tsimanouskaya from the Games on doctors' advice about her "emotional, psychological state".
    Adams said the IOC would continue conversations with Tsimanouskaya on Monday and the Olympics governing body had asked for a full report from the Belarus' Olympic committee.
    The incident on Sunday, first reported by Reuters, highlighted discord in Belarus, a former Soviet state that is run with a tight grip by President Alexander Lukashenko.
    In response to a number of questions by journalists about what the IOC would do to ensure other athletes in the village were protected, the IOC spokesperson said it was still collecting details about what exactly occurred.
    Adams said the IOC had taken a number of actions against Belarus' Olympic Committee in the run up to the Games following nationwide protests in the country.
    (Production: Miguel Pereira, Ilze Filks)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: Olympic restriction: Clip cannot be re-published without additional clearances from the IOC.
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