Krystsina Tsimanouskaya auctions medal to support athletes caught up in crackdown

The Belarusian Sport Solidarity Foundation say medal was being auctioned at Tsimanouskaya's request in support of Belarusian athletes 'who suffered from the actions of Lukashenko's regime'

Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya talks with police officers at Haneda international airport in Tokyo, Japan.

Accreditation card of Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya is seen at Haneda international airport in Tokyo, Japan.

The International Olympic Committee said it had spoken to Tsimanouskaya and that she was being accompanied by a Tokyo 2020 staff member at the airport.

Tomoko Uraki, member of Japan lawyers network for refugees is stopped by a police officer outside the police station that Krystsina Tsimanouskaya is believed to be inside at Haneda airport in Toko.

A Reuters photographer saw the athlete standing next to police at the airport. "I think I am safe," Tsimanouskaya said. "I am with the police."

The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Taiga Ishikawa speaks to media after he tried to meet with Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya at Haneda international airport.

A Belarusian sprinter refused to get on a flight from Tokyo on Sunday after being taken to the airport against her wishes by her team following her complaints about national coaching staff at the Olympic Games.

The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Taiga Ishikawa uses his smartphone after he tried to meet with Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya at Haneda international airport, in Tokyo, Japan.

Krystsina Tsimanouskaya of Belarus reacts after competing in Heat 6 of the women's 100m at the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Belarus' Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, far left, had been critical of the her coaches' negligence in Tokyo.

Sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, who was removed from the Tokyo Olympics by the Belarusian team after she criticised her coaches, is auctioning a medal from the 2019 European Games to support athletes who say they have been targeted by authorities.

Belarusian team officials took the 24-year-old to Tokyo's Haneda airport against her wishes on August 1, a day before she had been set to run the 200m.

She refused to board the flight home and has since sought refuge in Poland, fearing for her safety if she returned to Belarus.

Tsimanouskaya told Reuters the reason she had been removed from the team was her public criticism of "the negligence of our coaches."

She said she had been entered in the 4x400m relay without her knowledge after some team members were found to be ineligible to compete because they had not undergone enough doping tests.

The Belarusian Sport Solidarity Foundation, a group that supports athletes jailed or sidelined for their political views, said on Monday the medal was being auctioned at Tsimanouskaya's request in support of Belarusian athletes "who suffered from the actions of Lukashenko's regime".

As of Monday morning, bids for the medal had reached $5,200 on eBay.

President Alexander Lukashenko has been accused of orchestrating an unprecedented crackdown on demonstrators and opposition figures in the wake of a presidential election held a year ago that critics and observers say was rigged. He denies electoral fraud.

The crackdown has affected elite athletes, some of whom have been jailed for joining street protests.

In a statement carried by the foundation, Tsimanouskaya said the silver medal she won in the team relay at the 2019 European Games in the Belarusian capital Minsk carried special meaning.

"Those competitions were extremely important for me as they were held at the home arena," she said. "Lots of people, including my family and relatives, came to cheer for me."

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Friday ordered two Belarusian officials - athletics head coach Yuri Moisevich and team official Artur Shumak - to have their accreditation revoked and be removed from the Games.

The Belarusian Olympic Committee has said coaches withdrew Tsimanouskaya from the Tokyo Olympics on doctors' advice about her emotional and psychological state.