Belarus Olympic sprinter who was in an airport standoff in Tokyo finds a new life running for Poland

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Belarus Olympic sprinter who was in an airport standoff in Tokyo finds a new life running for Poland

2024-08-09 17:17 Last Updated At：17:20

SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — Three years ago, Krystsina Tsimanouskaya's Olympics ended in a dramatic standoff at a Tokyo airport when officials from the Belarus team tried to send her home against her will.

She's back at the Paris Olympics representing a new country and looking to settle some unfinished business.

“My No. 1 aim was go out there and run exactly that event that I wasn't able to run in Tokyo,” Tsimanouskaya told The Associated Press on Thursday after completing her last race of the Paris Olympics, running the 4x100-meter relay with the Poland team.

A diplomatic incident erupted at the Tokyo Games when the Belarus team sent Tsimanouskaya to the airport and she appealed to Japanese police for help. She had criticized Belarus' coaches after they tried to force her to enter the 4x400-meter relay, which she had never raced before.

She was barred from running her preferred race, the 200, and said that Belarusian officials tried to make her board a flight before the police at the airport intervened to help her. Tsimanouskaya said at the time she feared reprisals if she returned to Belarus and had been warned by her grandmother to stay away.

It was a year after President Alexander Lukashenko, Belarus' longtime authoritarian leader, had been re-elected in balloting widely seen by the opposition and Western countries as rigged. Protesters were met with violence from the security forces and many opposition members were either imprisoned or fled.

Tsimanouskaya received help to relocate to Poland, where she soon settled in. Now competing for Poland, she ran her preferred 200 and the 4x100 relay in Paris.

Tsimanouskaya lost in the new repechage round of the 200 and missed the relay final by .22 seconds Thursday, but says she wasn't too disappointed.

Two Belarusian coaches were stripped of their Olympic credentials over the Tokyo incident and one, Yury Moisevich, was banned from any role in track and field for five years in February after a tribunal ruled his actions were an abuse of power.

Tsimanouskaya speaks fluent Polish and says she feels accepted in Warsaw, where she works as a personal trainer and influencer and has discovered a love of painting. Her past in Belarus still follows her.

Tsimanouskaya said she has received online threats, and that she believed people had tried to follow her when she left the house, something she reported to the Polish authorities. In Paris, she said her new team warned her safety could be at risk.

There is no Belarus Olympic team in Paris because the International Olympic Committee barred the country along with its close ally Russia following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russian troops used Belarusian territory to launch their initial attack on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.

Seventeen Belarusian athletes are competing at the Paris Olympics as Individual Neutral Athletes, along with 15 Russians. None are in track and field.

The IOC implemented strict vetting for the neutrals aimed at barring those with links to the military or security services, as well as any who supported the war publicly. Tsimanouskaya still finds it hard to relax, even at the Olympics.

“Before coming here, representatives of the (Polish) team warned me I'd better be on my guard and not leave the (Olympic) Village alone, because they too are worried that something could happen. And in Tokyo, for example, on the Belarus team there were KGB (security service) representatives," she said.

“So I wouldn't be surprised if there were some strange people even among these neutrals. And that's why, just because of that, I'm still a little worried for myself even now.”

AP Olympics coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

Littell allows 1 hit in 7 innings and Rays beat Red Sox 2-0

2024-09-20 09:26 Last Updated At：09:30

ST. PETERSBURG. Fla. (AP) — Zack Littell allowed one hit over seven innings and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Boston Red Sox 2-0 on Thursday night.

Littell (8-9), who made his team-leading 28th start in his first full season as starter, struck out seven and did not issue a walk. After Edwin Uceta pitched a perfect eighth, Garrett Cleavinger worked a 1-2-3 ninth to get his sixth save in seven chances.

“I don’t think we could have predicted the amount of success, the workload,” Cash said of Littell. “Just how much day-in and day-out giving us chances to win.”

Nick Sogard's two-out single in the third was Boston's only hit of the game.

Boston starts a three-game series at Fenway Park against Minnesota on Friday, trailing the Twins and Detroit by four games for the final AL wild card. The Red Sox would also need to jump over Seattle. The Rays are five games out of the third wild-card position.

“Uphill battle, it’s tough,” Boston manager Alex Cora said. “Realistically it’s very tough. But we have three games against (the Twins).”

Both the Red Sox and Rays have nine games remaining.

Boston has gone 22-35 since the All-Star break.

The Rays need to go 2-1 or better this weekend against Toronto in their final home series of the season to have an eighth consecutive winning record at home.

“I don’t think there’s anything glaring other than at the end of the day we just have not performed like we’re capable of,” Cash said.

Brandon Lowe drove in a run with a third-inning sacrifice off Brayan Bello (14-8). Bello gave up one run, five hits, two walks and struck out seven over 5 2/3 innings.

Dylan Carlson made it 2-0 on a run-scoring grounder in the seventh.

Boston slugger Rafael Devers went 0 for 3 with three strikeouts. He was hitless in 11 at-bats, including eight strikeouts, in the series.

“Right now, collectively, we’re slumping,” Cora said. “Same thing has been happening for a month and half.”

TRAINER'S ROOM

Red Sox: Closer Kenley Jansen, who has had some shoulder-lat issues, threw before the game after getting his 27th save on Wednesday and is fine … RHP Lucas Sims (right lat) was reinstated from the 15-day IL. … RHP Luis García (right elbow inflammation) could be back in the next few days.

Rays: Shane McClanahan (Tommy John surgery) is looking forward to throwing to hitters for the first time next Thursday. “It’s exciting,” McClanahan said, “I miss it. Miss it to death,”

UP NEXT

Red Sox: Face Minnesota RHP David Festa (2-6, 5.07 ERA) on Friday night. Boston has not announced its starter.

Rays: LHP Tyler Alexander (6-5, 5.58 ERA) will start or follow an opener Friday night against Toronto RHP José Berríos (16-9, 3.44 ERA). Berríos is 7-0 with an 1.51 ERA over his last seven starts.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB