One of the most memorable stories from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics was the non-start of Belarusian athlete Kristina Timanovskaya, who dared to criticize her country’s sports authorities and found herself escorted by coaches to the airport, where she managed to flee. Russian mainstream media provided extensive coverage of that scandal but did not try to exonerate the Belarusian Olympic Committee, led by Viktor Lukashenka, a son of the ruler of the country, Alexander Lukashenko. This critical attention was supposed to contrast and illuminate the impeccable performance of the participating Russian athletes, seeking to overcome the long shadow of doping scandals. Russia, indeed, made a strong show at the games, even without being allowed to showcase its national flag and anthem. The only blemish was the International Olympic Committee’s sharp critique of the main Russian TV channels mocking LGBT matters.
Protests in Belarus
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Members of the Belarusian diaspora in Ukraine, covered with former national red and white flags of Belarus, march during a rally in Kyiv on Aug. 8, 2021. The rally marks the first anniversary of anti-Lukashenko protests which began after suspected vote-rigging in the 2020 Belarus presidential election.
