Krystsina Tsimanouskaya is eligible to represent Poland in national representative competitions from August 6, the World Athletics organisation announced on its website on Monday.
The 26-year-old sprinter was granted Polish citizenship last year, state news agency PAP reported.
In 2021, Belarusian coaches tried to send Tsimanouskaya home from the Tokyo Olympics after she criticized them for attempting to enter her for the 4x400-metre relay even though she had never run in the event before, the Associated Press news agency reported.
The Polish embassy in Tokyo moved swiftly to grant her a humanitarian visa and she relocated to Warsaw, avoiding a return to Belarus amid a crackdown on dissent under the strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko, according to news outlets.
Tsimanouskaya cleared to represent Poland
Athletes are usually required to sit out a three-year waiting period before switching allegiance to a different country, which in Tsimanouskaya’s case would be until 2024, officials said.
However, the World Athletics Nationality Review Panel announced: “The National Review Panel agreed to waive the 3-year waiting period starting from the date of application (12.06.23) on the basis the athlete last represented BLR on 30 July 2021, at the Olympic Games, Tokyo (JPN) and that the athlete has not competed in national representative competitions for two years,” as quoted by the Reuters news agency.
Tsimanouskaya said she was “extremely happy” with the decision and there was a chance she could represent Poland at the world championships in Budapest, Hungary, starting on August 19, the PAP news agency reported.
Last month, the sprinter competed in the Polish championships, finishing second in the 100m and 200m races, according to news outlets.
In 2019, Tsimanouskaya won the 200m event at the Summer Universiade in Naples, Italy.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, Reuters, AP, World Athletics