Belarusian runner puts her silver medal up for sale

Belarusian sprinter Kristina Timanovskaya has offered her silver medal, which she won at the 2019 European Games, for sale on e-commerce site eBay, media reported.

According to “Reuters”, Kristina Timanovskaya offered the medal for sale at an auction on eBay, where its price exceeded 5,200 dollars.

“The website indicated that the money from the sale of the silver medal will be transferred to the Belarusian Sports Solidarity Fund,” the agency added.

The athlete previously told the media that she intends to seek asylum in Europe, and has appealed to the International Olympic Committee for help. According to Tymanovskaya, she was pressured and they tried to get her out of Japan without her consent.

The Polish Embassy in Japan also issued a visa to Tamanovskaya on humanitarian grounds. Her husband, Arseny Zhdanievich, left Belarus for Ukraine and also obtained a humanitarian visa from Poland.

The Belarusian player, Kristina Timanovskaya, had announced her refusal to play and her willingness to return to Belarus when it was safe for her there.
At the Tokyo Olympics, Tymanovskaya was supposed to compete in running at distances of 100 and 200 metres. But after two Belarusian athletes were suspended from participating due to the lack of the required number of doping tests, the coaches decided to use Tymanovskaya in other races, which sparked criticism of the tweeters on social media.

After refusing to comply with the coaches’ decision, Tymanovskaya said that the sports administration is trying to correct its bad work at the expense of the athletes.

After that, the Belarusian Olympic Committee announced that Timanovskaya would stop participating in the Games “due to her emotional and psychological state.”

Last Friday, the National Olympic Committee of Belarus commented on the decision of the International Olympic Committee’s Disciplinary Committee to ban Belarusian athletes from participating in the world championships in Tokyo.

The Belarusian Olympic Committee stated in its statement that “the Belarusian coaches, Yuri Moiseevich and Artur Chomak, were banned from participating in the Tokyo Olympics and expelled from the Olympic Village because of the attitude towards sprinter Kristina Timanovskaya.”

The Belarus Olympic Committee informed that “this international decision is not considered legal, and therefore it will file an appeal against these illegal measures.”