Belarusian sportswoman Timanovskaya put up her silver medal on eBay

Belarusian athlete Kristina Timanovskaya has put up a silver medal won at the 2019 European Games in Minsk for auction on eBay. About it reported Belarusian Sports Solidarity Fund.

“At the request of the athlete, the medal is put up for auction in support of free athletes of Belarus who have suffered from the actions of the Lukashenka regime. All funds will be transferred to the Belarusian Sports Solidarity Fund, ”the organization said.

The rate is now over $ 5 thousand (about 381 thousand rubles).

Kristina Timanovskaya found herself in the center of the scandal after she criticized Belarusian sports officials on the social network, who declared her to participate in the relay race 4 x 400 meters – not her core discipline – without asking or even notifying the athlete. After that, the NOC of Belarus removed her from the competition and decided to take her home, referring to the “emotional and psychological state” of the runner. Later Timanovskaya said that the Belarusian authorities were trying to take her out of Tokyo against her will, and asked the IOC for help.

Representatives of the Belarusian delegation brought the athlete to the Tokyo airport to take her to Belarus, but there she turned to the Japanese police for protection. The athlete spent Monday night at a Tokyo airport hotel under the protection of the Japanese police.

On August 4, with the assistance of the IOC and the Polish Embassy in Japan, Timanovskaya flew over Belarus to Austria, and from there to Poland, which granted her a humanitarian visa. The athlete failed to participate in the 200-meter race, in which she was originally supposed to compete.

IN interview BBC Timanovskaya said her refusal to return to her homeland was not politically motivated. “I love my country and have not betrayed it,” she said. The athlete wonders how, because of the post on Instagram, albeit with criticism of officials, a political scandal could erupt.

“I did not take part in any protests, I never spoke about politics, and even here this situation did not concern politics. This situation concerned only the mistake of our leadership, which they made here at the Olympics. Therefore, I did not think that this situation could lead to a political scandal, ”Timanovskaya said.