Two Belarusian coaches have lost their Olympic accreditations after allegedly attempting to force an athlete to leave the Games in Tokyo. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirmed that Artur Shimak and Yury Maisevich had left the Olympic Village. An investigation is under way. The case of Krystina Timanovskaya caught global attention after she refused her team's orders to fly home.
She is now in Poland, where she has been granted a humanitarian visa. Belarus says she was removed from the national team because of her emotional state. But the 24-year-old says this is not true, saying she was removed because she spoke on Instagram about the "negligence of [her] coaches". In a statement, the IOC said it had removed the accreditations of the two coaches "as a provisional measure... in the interest of the wellbeing of the athletes of the National Olympic Committee of Belarus who are still in Tokyo".
The body said a disciplinary commission had been established to investigate the incident and that both coaches would be "offered an opportunity to be heard". Ms Timanovskaya's removal came after the sprinter complained on social media about being entered into the 4x400m relay race at short notice, after some team-mates were found to be ineligible to compete. The video led to criticism in state media, with one television channel saying she lacked team spirit.
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