Belarusian skier flees country in fear of reprisal for political views

A Belarusian cross-country skier has fled the country with her family because of fears of reprisals by authorities after she was barred from competition over the family's political views.

Darya Dolidovich and her family are now in Poland, where she hopes to continue training, Sergei Dolidovich, a seven-time Olympian cross-country skier who also coaches Darya, told Reuters in an interview by video call with his daughter on Tuesday.

The 17-year-old was barred from competing for what she believes were his participation in street protests against the 2020 re-election of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko that opponents said was fraudulent.

"Darya has been stripped of her right to take part in competitions," he said. "I don't see the possibility of her continuing her career in Belarus."

"We could be accused of staging a demonstration and shouting [opposition] slogans, then just be sent to prison. Three months ago, I couldn't have imagined, even in a nightmare, that I would end up leaving my country," he said.

The Dolidovich family's departure comes a few days into the Beijing Winter Olympics, where the Belarusian national team is under scrutiny following the defection of sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya at the Tokyo Games last year.

Dolidovich said she was keen to continue skiing in the hopes of keeping her Olympic dream alive.

Several elite Belarusian athletes have been jailed or kicked off national teams for voicing opposition views and joining protests that erupted in 2020 over Lukashenko's re-election.