(Monaco) Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, the sprinter from Belarus whose team tried to exclude her from the Tokyo Olympics, will now be able to represent Poland at the next World Championships.
Tsimanouskaya’s profile on the World Athletics website was updated on Monday, with a note that she had achieved the new status the day before.
The international federation usually requires athletes wishing to change their allegiance to take a three-year break from competition. World Athletics rules state that this condition can be waived in “exceptional circumstances”. The agency declined to comment, saying it did not explain how cases are assessed on an individual basis.
The Worlds will get under way on August 19 in Budapest, Hungary.
It was not known on Monday whether Tsimanouskaya would be selected by Poland and if so, for which events. But the athlete said on her social media that she believes she has a good chance of being selected. The Polish Athletics Federation did not respond to interview requests made to it.
Tsimanouskaya has lived in Poland since the attempt to forcibly remove her from the Tokyo Games in 2021. Her case has turned attention to crackdowns on Belarusians at odds with President Alexander Lukashenko.
Her coaches tried to send Tsimanouskaya back to Belarus after she criticized them for trying to force her to run the 4x400m relay, even though she had never competed in the race before.
She was then prevented from running her favorite distance, the 200m. She then claimed that leaders in Belarus tried to force her onto a plane before Japanese police intervened at the airport.
Tsimanouskaya has since said she fears reprisals if she returns to Belarus and her grandmother has warned her to stay abroad.
Two coaches in the country had their Olympic accreditation withdrawn following this incident. One of them faces charges from the athletics federation’s Integrity Unit.
Belarus and Russia are both persona non grata at Worlds, a consequence of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
