Runner Timanovskaya was preparing to run in the 200m at the Games on Monday when she was abruptly told she would be escorted to the airport, put on a flight to her homeland and play no further part in the competition in the wake of her public criticism over an alleged lack of doping kits and a late decision to include her in a relay race.
The Games debutant appealed to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for help from the terminal, suggesting that she was being pressured to take the flight against her will in a move that the Belarus Olympic Committee said had been made because of her “emotional and psychological state”.
Timanovskaya said she had received phone calls threatening her if she did not take down a video she initially published on Instagram voicing her concerns.