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Belarusian cross-country skier Darya Dolidovich told Reuters on
Tuesday that she and her family had left Belarus because of
fears of reprisals by authorities after she was banned from
competition, a move her family saw as retribution for their
support of the political opposition.
Darya Dolidovich is the daughter of Sergei Dolidovich, a
seven-time Olympic cross-country skier who took part in street
protests against the 2020 re-election of leader Alexander
Lukashenko that opponents said was fraudulent.
Lukashenko has denied rigging the vote.
"It was initially a disciplinary action between the national
federation and the athlete for some breach," IOC spokesman Mark
Adams said in a briefing at the Beijing Games.
"If FIS want to look into it further then they obviously will
do. We've reiterated our call to the NOC and all IFs
(international federations) to make sure that Belarusian
athletes can compete safely without any discrimination."
In December, the Belarus Ski Union deactivated Dolidovich's FIS
code, an individual identifying number required for athletes to
take part in competitions run by the International Ski
Federation (FIS).
In a letter seen by Reuters, the Belarus Ski Union told
Dolidovich's coaching staff it had deactivated her FIS code in
response to a decision by the Belarus Cross-Country Skiing
Federation. It did not say on what basis that decision was made.
Several Belarusian athletes have been jailed or kicked off
national teams for voicing opposition views and joining protests
that erupted in the wake of the 2020 election.
The repression of Belarusian athletes, including the attempt to
forcibly repatriate sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya during the
Tokyo Olympics last year, has drawn international condemnation.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Writing by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber;
Editing by Ken Ferris)
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