She sparked the biggest political crisis of the Tokyo Olympics, but Kristina Timanovskaya didn’t set out to be a symbol of the repression in her native Belarus. She just wanted to run. Timanovskaya, a 24-year-old sprinter whose specialty is the 200-meter dash, became the center of an international drama after her delegation forcibly tried to send her home from the Games. She said that she has been offered asylum by Poland, which has told her she can continue her athletic career. She worried that a poor performance in an unfamiliar event could cause her injury or trauma.

Source: New York Times August 03, 2021 12:22 UTC