TOKYO: Belarusian Olympian Krystsina Tsimanouskaya has refused an order to fly home issued after her criticism of national coaches and sought help from the International Olympic Committee.

In a video statement posted on social media by a human rights group Sunday night, the 24-year-old sprinter said she was put under pressure, asking the IOC to intervene as her country tried to take her out of Japan without consent.

In an interview with a sports media outlet in Belarus, she claimed that her country is no longer safe for her and that she might be jailed there.

She reportedly plans to seek asylum in a third-party country in Europe, such as Austria.

Japan’s top government spokesman said on Monday that the Belarusian athlete who had sought protection from police during the Olympic Games was safe.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato also told a news conference that authorities, including the International Olympic Committee, were working to confirm her intentions, and that Japan would take “appropriate steps” in cooperation with the IOC and other bodies.

IOC spokesman Mark Adams also said that Tsimanouskaya is safe in Tokyo after spending the night at a hotel with support from Tokyo Games organizing committee staff.

Tsimanouskaya, who was due to run in the women’s 200-meter event of the Tokyo Olympics on Monday, was removed from the national team apparently for criticizing national coaches on Instagram.

She was forced to pack up and leave Tokyo. But she refused to board a flight from Tokyo International Airport at Haneda and sought protection from the Japanese police.

In the former Soviet Union state of Belarus, President Alexander Lukashenko, often called the last dictator of Europe, is stepping up pressure on Belarusian athletes to perform well at the Tokyo Games.

Lukashenko met with mass demonstrations over alleged election fraud last year. Tsimanouskaya expressed her support for the protests and criticized his violent crackdown on participants.

In the Belarusian media interview, Tsimanouskaya said that she heard from a coach that her issue is no longer at the level of the national athletics federation or the sports ministry but at a higher level.

JIJI Press/Reuters