Belarus Olympics kidnapping: Team officials bundle female sprinter to the Tokyo airport and try to force her back home after she criticised national coaches
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A Belarusian 200m sprinter who publicly complained about national coaches at the Tokyo Olympics said she was taken to the airport against her wishes on Sunday to board a flight back home.
Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, who was due to compete in the women's race on Monday, told Reuters she did not plan to return to Belarus and that she had sought the protection of Japanese police at Tokyo's Haneda airport so she would not have to board the flight.
'I will not return to Belarus,' she told Reuters in a message over Telegram.
The Belarusian Olympic Committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tsimanouskaya, 24, said coaching staff had come to her room on Sunday and told her to pack. She