Krystsina Tsimanouskaya - The African Mirror

Aug

2021

EXCLUSIVE: Belarusian sprinter decided to defect on way to airport over safety fears

GABRIELLE TETRAULT-FARBER OLYMPIC sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya decided to defect as she was being driven to a Tokyo airport because her grandmother told her that it was not safe to return home to Belarus. In an exclusive interview with Reuters in Warsaw on Thursday, she said her family feared she would be sent to a psychiatric ward if she went back to Belarus, and that her grandmother had called her to tell her not to return. "I have always been far from politics, I didn't sign any letters or go to any protests, I didn't say anything against the Belarusian government,"…

Aug

2021

By The African Mirror

Olympics-Biles retakes spotlight as world records fall, IOC probes Belarus

SPORT

STEVE KEATING and MITCH PHILLIPS SIMONE Biles retook the gymnastics stage on Tuesday after a week's absence, electrifying the Tokyo Olympics on a day that saw world records smashed and organisers probe Belarus's treatment of an athlete now in diplomatic protection. The return of the American, considered by many the greatest gymnast ever, ensured a blockbuster finale for the sport at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre as Biles scored 14.000 on the balance beam to take the bronze. She had abruptly dropped out of the team event earlier in the Games citing mental health issues and increasing the global spotlight on…

Aug

2021

By The African Mirror

Olympics: Italy hails new sprint king, as drama unfolds at airport

SPORT

GABRIELLE TETRAULT and MITCH PHILLIPS LAMONT Marcell Jacobs has won the most coveted crown in athletics, giving Italy its first 100 metres gold on a night of high drama in Tokyo. As Jacobs stormed to the first Olympic title of the post-Usain Bolt era, the fate of a Belarusian sprinter's Tokyo Games was playing out at a nearby airport. Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, who had been due to compete in the women's 200 metres on Monday, told Reuters she had sought the protection of Japanese police at Tokyo's Haneda airport after being taken to the airport against her wishes. She said the…