IOC pulls credentials of two Belarus coaches

Two Belarusian coaches had their credentials pulled by the IOC on Friday after they attempted to force sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya to return to Minsk.

The two have left the Olympic village and will return to Minsk in the near future, Belarus state-run Belta news agency reported, citing the country's Olympic committee. 

Shot of criticism now heard around the world

Tsimanouskaya, 24, had posted a video critical of the Belarus Olympic Committee's decision to have her compete in a race she did not train for. That video and the bullying by the two coaches, identified by the IOC on Twitter as Artur Shimak and Yury Maisevich, upended her life. 

Shimak is the deputy director of the Belarus national training center and Maisevich is the Belarus head athletics coach.

Prior to the decision to have the two men "cancelled and removed," the IOC opened a formal investigation earlier in the week in order to "clarify the circumstances around the incident" and the role Shimak and Maisevich played in it.

The IOC noted, "they will be offered an opportunity to be heard."

The Belarus Olympic Committee said it "fully defends and will continue to protect the interests of all Belarusian athletes and coaches from any forms of discrimination" and "reserves the right to appeal the decision."

Finding safety in Warsaw

On Wednesday, Tsimanouskaya arrived in Warsaw on a humanitarian visa after she refused her coaches' demands to return to Minsk. She had sought protection from Japanese police while at the airport.

On Thursday, Tsimanouskaya told DW in Warsaw, "Now I have support from the whole world and the support makes me much stronger."

She said she was happy to be in Poland where she found safety and hoped to still compete in future Olympics.

Despite no past involvement in the protests or opposition movement, Tsimanouskaya told a press conference, "I want to tell all Belarusians not to be afraid and if they're under pressure, speak out."

In Belarus, a grandmother's advice and an isolated dictator

Tsimanouskaya said her grandmother had advised her not to return to Minsk after she was singled out as mentally ill on state television.

Belarusian strongman Aleksander Lukashenko is increasingly isolated and reliant on Moscow for support since the contested presidential election a year ago led to a wave of mass protests followed by a wave of violent repression.

While the world has watched Tsimanouskaya's case play out this week, it is unclear what consequences there may be for this unlikely defection for Lukashenko's regime either at home or on the world stage.

ar/sms (AFP, dpa, Reuters)