A Belarusian sprinter’s asylum sheds light on a dictator’s fate


When Belarusian Olympic officials went to sprinter Kristina Timanovskaya’s room after she publicly complained about her coaches., head of the national team made it clear they received an order to return home – and it came from above.

This is because, like so many other things in Belarus, sport is a family-run business. This family belongs to President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, who ruled the Eastern European country with authoritarian power for 27 years.

Timanovskaya denied an Olympic scandal reminiscent of the Cold War and defected. On Wednesday, she arrived in Poland, offering her and her husband political asylum.

However, his situation has shed light on an anachronistic dictatorship, where no sphere of life can escape politics, and the ruling family is increasingly ruthlessly attacking any odor of dissent.

Without drama, few people interested in the Olympics would pay much attention to Belarus, which, unlike the former Soviet Union to which it once belonged, was hardly a gold medalist. But the breakup brought global attention to another of the many ways the Lukashenko family used its power: sports.

“For Mr. Lukashenko, sport is a propaganda tool as it is for any dictator in any totalitarian system,” said Alexander Opeikin, director general of the Belarusian Sports Solidarity Fund, which opposes the government.

“Lukashenko always perceived the awards of athletes, the medals of athletes at the Olympics as his own medals.”

But if the use of sport as a propaganda tool has a long history, so do the embarrassing splits that pierce the air of invincibility elaborated by authoritarian governments.



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