Belarusian Olympic sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya (left) and her husband Arseni Zdanewich speak to The Associated Press on Wednesday August 11, 2021 in Warsaw, Poland. The runner, who found refuge in Poland to rebuild her life, described the feeling of security when the police took her away from her national team officials.
Belarusian Olympic sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya (left) and her husband Arseni Zdanewich speak to The Associated Press on Wednesday August 11, 2021 in Warsaw, Poland. The runner, who found refuge in Poland to rebuild her life, described the feeling of security when the police took her away from her national team officials.
Belarusian Olympic sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya (left) and her husband Arseni Zdanewich speak to The Associated Press on Wednesday August 11, 2021 in Warsaw, Poland. The runner, who found refuge in Poland to rebuild her life, described the feeling of security when the police took her away from her national team officials.
Belarusian Olympic sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya (left) and her husband Arseni Zdanewich speak to The Associated Press on Wednesday August 11, 2021 in Warsaw, Poland. The runner, who found refuge in Poland to avoid being punished at home for criticizing team officials at the Tokyo Games, remembered the harrowing moments when she sought police help at the airport and the feeling of immediate relief afterwards she had been placed under protection.
Belarusian Olympic sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya (left) and her husband Arseni Zdanewich speak to The Associated Press on Wednesday August 11, 2021 in Warsaw, Poland. The runner, who found refuge in Poland in order not to be punished at home for her criticism, team officials at the Tokyo games, described the feeling of security she finally felt after the police took her away from her team officials.
Belarusian Olympic sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya speaks to The Associated Press on Wednesday August 11, 2021 in Warsaw, Poland. The runner, who found refuge in Poland to rebuild her life, described the feeling of security when the police took her nationality away from team officials ..
From VANESSA GERA Associated Press
WARSAW, Poland (dpa) – After all the turbulence of the past week, Krystsina Tsimanouskaya finally feels safe.
The Belarusian Olympic sprinter, who found refuge in Poland to avoid a penalty at home after criticizing team officials at the Tokyo Games, says she now hopes to focus on how to continue a world-class running career .
In an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday at the Olympic Center in Warsaw, the 24-year-old runner said she had already asked Polish officials to help her resume training.
“Life changed in one day, and now we are starting it all over in a new country,” she said in an interview with her husband Arseni Zdanewich at her side. “We plan to stay in Poland and continue our career here.”
“We reached out to the Ministry of Sports, the Polish national athletics team, with questions about a coach, a group and a place where I can train and many other questions about continuing my sports career here in Poland,” she said.
She stressed that she and her 25-year-old husband, an athletics coach who was also her trainer, consider it a waste to give up an online training program they started in Belarus.
“We had so many ideas, we planned them down to the last detail,” said Tsimanouskaya. “We have invested a lot of time and effort and want to continue.”
