Tsimanouskaya’s Husband: Already At Ukrainian Border Frontier Guards Supported Me

Arseni Tsimanouski left the country.

Arseni Tsimanouski, the husband of runner Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, whom the NOC officials tried to expel from Japan during the Olympics, urgently left Belarus. He is now safe and gave his first interview to Euroradio.

- Are you going to Kyiv, as they write in the media?

- At the moment I am already on the territory of Ukraine, everything is fine.

- Why did you decide to leave for Ukraine?

- Well, because, firstly, there are at least some acquaintances here who can help at first. And secondly, even already at the border, the border guards supported me and wished me further success so that everything would work well for us. Already in Ukraine they know the whole situation, and are ready to help.

- How do you see this situation from the outside?

- The whole problem is that our leaders, they act incorrectly, they do not even study athletes, what kinds of sports they do, all this is recognized at the last moment. And of course, I understand Krystsina’s emotions, who learned that she had to run the 4x400 meter relay instead of her own distance. Because for her it's a distance ... well, a very long distance. It requires a different preparation.

And I don’t understand at all why signing up for this relay, if there are not enough people who specifically prepared for this type, to supplement it with people for whom, roughly speaking, 400 meters is very difficult.

My opinion is that it was generally better to skip this relay race. And let the girls work out their types normally. And they simply were not tuned on this relay morally and psychologically.

- As a coach, explain what is the difference between 200 and 400 meters, between a regular race and a relay race?

- At the first glance, it may seem that 200 and 400 meters make no big difference, but in fact, 400 meters is a very difficult distance. There you need endurance, and you need to get the muscles ready at a fast speed. This is a distance where you have to work to the maximum in order to show results.

That is, a certain sequence of actions is required. It is necessary to expand the distance, somewhere to start slower, somewhere faster. And 200 meters is more such a short distance, where you show your maximum speed in a short interval. There are a lot of nuances.

Imagine a boxer being put on a wrestling competition. The same is suggested here.

- Why is this happening in the team? Unprofessional functionaries?

- I think yes. They see that nothing comes out of this relay, that there are not enough people, and they simply put athletes from other species to close the holes. I think this is wrong. Each athlete must prepare specifically for their appearance, ride and show results.

- Did you communicate with Krystsina when she was at the Tokyo airport?

- Yes, we talked, but very rarely. Sometimes it was possible to get in touch, but at some point it did not work.

- When did you decide to leave Belarus?

- At the moment when my wife decided not to return to the country for good. Then a quick decision was made to leave as soon as possible.

- She burst into tears while talking with the team representatives. What is her character, is it easy to upset her?

- Well, in general, she is a girl with character. That is, it is difficult to drive her to such a state in everyday life. How they were driving her mad, I have no words on what methods our compatriots are using. I am just shocked by the representatives of our team, how they put pressure on the athletes.

- How did you prepare for the Olympics?

- Krystsina's main coach is in Austria, and she could not get there, because there was a covid and problems with transportation. Therefore, I helped her in Belarus. We really wanted to perform at the Olympics!

- How did you discuss her actions in the family?

- Well, I support my wife. I will also positively accept any of her decisions.

- Do you understand that you will not be able to return to Belarus, and may have to start your career from scratch?

- I understand and do not regret it. Because I do not want my wife to be alone in another country, without any support. In any case, I will support her and will be by her side. As for work, I think I can find it in another country.