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Belarus sprinter who sought refuge in Tokyo "safe" with Japanese authorities, IOC says

02 August 2021
Dan Ackermann

Belarus' Olympian Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, who's refusing orders to return home, is in the care of Japanese authorities and the UN refugee agency is now involved in her case, an International Olympic Committee official told reporters Monday.

Driving the news: The sprinter said she wouldn't obey orders and board a flight home after being taken to Tokyo's s Haneda airport by team officials Sunday following her criticism of Belarusian coaches, per Reuters. She spent the night in an airport hotel.

  • IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said the 24-year-old was "safe and secure" and that the IOC has requested Belarus' National Olympic Committee (NOC) provide a full written report on the matter. "
  • In a video originally posted to Telegram, Tsimanouskaya appealed to the International Olympic Committee for help, saying that team officials were trying to force her to leave the country without her consent ahead of her racing events next week.
  • Tsimanouskaya sought help from the Japanese police at the airport and did not board the flight out of the country. She told Reuters, "I will not return to Belarus."

The big picture: Tsimanouskaya was due to race in the 200-meter heats on Monday and the 4x400 relay on Thursday.

  • The athlete said her removal from the team came after she took to Instagram to criticize "the negligence of our coaches," according to NBC News.
  • She added that she had been added to the 4x400 relay, an event she did not train for, after already arriving in Tokyo, when several other teammates dropped out due to insufficient doping tests, reports the Washington Post.

What they're saying: The Belarusian Olympic Committee said in an official comment Sunday that Tsimanouskaya had been removed from the team due to her "emotional and psychological state," per WashPost.

  • Tsimanouskaya then reposted the comment on her own social media, writing "this is a lie."

Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.