In the meantime, he said, reporters would “have to take my word for it” that Ms. Timanovskaya was being protected. Masa Takaya, spokesman for the Tokyo organizing committee, said that Ms. Timanovskaya had spent Sunday night in a hotel near Haneda Airport in Tokyo. After posting her complaints on Instagram, Ms. Timanovskaya accused the Belarusian Olympic committee of kidnapping her from the Olympic Village and taking her to the airport. Belarusian journalists at the Games said they had been told that Ms. Timanovskaya missed a bus meant to transport her to the airport with other athletes who had completed their events. They said she was taken to Haneda Airport in a separate car, accompanied by one of her coaches.

Source: New York Times August 02, 2021 09:52 UTC