OLYMPIC GAMES 2024: KRYSTSINA TSIMANOUSKAYA, THE ATHLETE WHO DEFIES AUTOCRAT ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO

The French media outlet Le Monde has published a truly interesting article about Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, an Olympian and an AFF’s ambassador.

Krystsi­na Tsi­manouskaya, a Belaru­sian-born sprint­er, has become a sym­bol of resis­tance against the author­i­tar­i­an regime of Alexan­der Lukashenko. After oppos­ing her coun­try’s wish­es at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Tsi­manouskaya faced severe back­lash, which led her to seek asy­lum in Poland. Now, com­pet­ing under the Pol­ish flag, she is set to par­tic­i­pate in the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Tsi­manouskaya’s coura­geous stance and jour­ney have gar­nered inter­na­tion­al atten­tion and sup­port. In 2021, she pub­licly crit­i­cized her coach­es for mis­han­dling her Olympic par­tic­i­pa­tion, which result­ed in an imme­di­ate attempt by Belaru­sian author­i­ties to force her return to Min­sk. Seek­ing pro­tec­tion from Japan­ese police, she secured a human­i­tar­i­an visa and even­tu­al­ly Pol­ish cit­i­zen­ship in August 2022.

As a bril­liant ambas­sador of the Ath­letes for Free­dom Foun­da­tion, Krystsi­na Tsi­manouskaya con­tin­ues to inspire many with her resilience and deter­mi­na­tion. We wish her every suc­cess at the Paris 2024 Olympics, where she will com­pete in her first “real” Olympic Games under the Pol­ish eagle.

Here is the link to the full sto­ry.

Main image: Krystsi­na’s per­son­al col­lec­tion.