By Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber

BEIJING (Reuters), a Belarusian Cross-Country Skier fled her country along with her family after her father barred her from participating in competitions because she held political views.

Darya Dolidovich has been traveling with her family to Poland. She hopes to keep training there, Sergei Dolidovich (a seven-time Olympian cross country skier and coach) told Reuters via video chat on Tuesday.

Reuters last month reported that Darya, 17, was banned from participating in what Sergei believed was his participation at street protests opposing the 2020 reelection of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. Opponents claimed that this was fraud. Lukashenko denies rigging of the vote.

He stated that Daraya was stripped of her rights to participate in competitions. “I don’t see her continuing her career as a Belarusian.”

He stated, “We could be charged of organizing a demonstration and shouting opposition slogans. If so, we should be sent to prison.”

“Three Months ago, I could not have imagined that, even in a nightmare I’d end up fleeing my country.

It is only days until the Beijing Winter Olympics and the departure of the Dolidovich Family. This follows the defection from Krystsina Timanouskaya last year at the Tokyo Games.

Darya, one the country’s top junior cross-country skiers said last month that she was deactivated from her FIS code by the Belarus Ski Union. This is an individual identifier number needed for athletes who wish to participate in international competitions (FIS).

According to a January 31 letter, Reuters reviewed, the Belarus Ski Union informed Dolidovich that she had deactivated her FIS number in December as a result of a decision made by the Belarus Cross-Country Skiing Federation. It did not explain why this decision had been made.

Reuters asked FIS for clarifications. It stated it hadn’t heard from Belarusian ski officials after requesting more information about Darya Doliovich’s FIS code deactivation.

Both the Belarus Cross-Country Skiing Federation (Belez Ski Union) and were unable to respond to our requests.

UNCERTAINTY FOREIGN

Darya Didiovich was expected to complete secondary school this year. However, it’s not known how she plans on continuing her Polish studies.

She said, “I had intended to finish school here in Belarus. But my parents told me that they were moving.” She said, “I am upset. It would have been easier to leave for a while and complete school.

Dolidovich stated that she is keen to keep skiing, in order to fulfill her Olympic dreams.

Many elite Belarusian athletes were jailed and kicked out of their national team’s teams after they voiced opposition views or joined protests against Lukashenko’s reelection.

International condemnation has been poured on the repression of Belarusian athletes and the attempted forcible repatriation of Tsimanouskaya at the Tokyo Olympics.

USA announced last week it had placed visa restrictions on several Belarusian nationals. They cited Tsimanouskaya’s case as well as other cases of extraterritorial anti-dissident activities.

Sviatlana andryiuk was another Belarusian cross country skier. She also lost her FIS code. This prevented her from participating in qualifying events that would have given her an Olympic berth.

Andryiuk told Reuters that she was accused of supporting the opposition. She described her political opinions as neutral.