Coach in Belarus sprinter controversy hit with ban

MONACO — An Olympic track coach who tried to force Krystsina Tsimanouskaya home from the Tokyo Games to Belarus where she feared for her safety was banned from the sport for five years Tuesday.

Yury Maisevich’s actions in Tokyo were adjudged to be a “clear affront to the athlete’s dignity and an abuse of … power,” track and field’s Athletics Integrity Unit said.

He also was found guilty of “providing false or inaccurate information in the course of events leading up to the athlete’s departure from the Olympic Village” in August 2021.

The 63-year-old official is banned from working in track and field until February 2029.

Tsimanouskaya’s ordeal in Tokyo became a diplomatic incident during the second half of the Summer Games.

She went on social media during the games to question why she had been entered in the 4×400 relay without her knowledge and despite never racing the event. The Belarus track team had lost some athletes because of doping issues.

Coaches decided to send her home and she was escorted by team officials to Haneda Airport in Tokyo.

At the airport, Tsimanouskaya spoke on the phone to her grandmother, who told her of a backlash against her from state-run media at home. President Alexander Lukashenko’s government had cracked down on dissent since his disputed reelection one year earlier.

Lukashenko was the longtime head of the Belarus Olympic Committee, though he had been suspended by the IOC from coming to Tokyo in the fallout from widespread pro-democracy protests. Athletes in Belarus said they had faced reprisals and intimidation.

Belarusian athletes in Tokyo were still under the control of state-backed officials who tried to get Tsimanouskaya back to Minsk.

Tsimanouskaya sought help at the airport from police who took her away from Belarusian officials. She took refuge in Poland’s embassy in Tokyo and was given a humanitarian visa to travel there days later.

Four days after the episode at the airport, the IOC revoked Olympic credentials for Maisevich who led a team of 31 athletes, the AIU said.

Tsimanouskaya was cleared last year to run for Poland at the world championships. She was eliminated in the heats of the 100 meters, reached the semifinals in the 200 and was in the 4×100 relay team that placed fifth.