Coaches evicted from Olympic Village over athlete mistreatment claims

The IOC kicked two coaches out of the Olympic Village after claims they attempted to send an athlete back to Belarus against her will.

Krystsina Tsimanouskaya made some troubling accusations. Picture: Yuichi Yamazaki/Getty Images

Two coaches have been kicked out of the Olympic Village after Belarus athlete Kristina Timanovskaya claimed they tried to send her home against her will.

The 24-year-old said team officials had tried to remove her from Japan after she criticised Belarus’ athletics federation for entering her into a relay race in Tokyo without giving her notice.

Timanovskaya claimed in videos posted on social media two officials had escorted her to the airport and demanded she return home.

Having since been granted a Polish humanitarian visa while seeking political asylum, the IOC announced on Friday the removal of two coaches allegedly involved in the saga.

Two coaches were evicted from the Olympic Village for allegedly trying to force Krystsina Tsimanouskaya (left) to fly back to Belarus. Picture: Michael Steele/Getty Images

“In the interest of the wellbeing of the athletes of the NOC of Belarus who are still in Tokyo and as a provisional measure, the IOC cancelled and removed last night the accreditations of the two coaches, Artur Shimak and Yury Moisevich,” a tweet from the committee read.

“The two coaches were requested to leave the Olympic Village immediately and have done so. They will be offered an opportunity to be heard.”

It’s understood Timanovskaya is considering applying for asylum elsewhere in Europe, with the UN refugee agency UNHCR involved in her case.

“It turns out our great bosses as always decided everything for us,” she said in an Instagram story video that is no longer available.

An IOC Disciplinary Commission has been set up in the case of Krystsina Tsimanouskaya to clarify the circumstances around the incident and the roles the coaches Mr Artur Shimak and Mr Yury Maisevich played. #Tokyo2020#Olympics /1

— IOC MEDIA (@iocmedia) August 5, 2021

In a later Instagram post Timanovskaya added she wouldn’t have “reacted so harshly if I had been told in advance, explained the whole situation and asked if I was able to run 400 metres”.

“But they decided to do everything behind my back,” she said.

The Belarusian Sport Solidarity Foundation (BSSF) said officials from the Belarus team had tried to “deport” Timanovskaya.

In her video, the athlete appealed to the IOC to intervene in her case, warning: “I am under pressure and they are trying to take me out of the country without my consent.”

IOC spokesman Mark Adams said the IOC had demanded a full written account of the incident from Belarus’s Olympic committee, revealing that the IOC had taken a series of actions against the committee in recent months.

Originally published as Coaches evicted from Olympic Village over athlete mistreatment claims