I enjoy watching the Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics. These summer games of course had to be delayed an entire year due to the global pandemic of the Covid-19 Virus.

During these Olympic Games, an international incident happened. 24 year old Belarusian Sprinter Krystsina Tsikhanouskaya was about to be forced home to Belarus to face punishment and managed to defect at the Tokyo Airport.

Belarus for people who don't know, is known as the last dictatorship of Europe. It is a country in Eastern Europe, located between Poland and Russia.

Belarus was formerly part of the Soviet Union until the 1991 collapse. But freedom did not come to them. Since 1994 they have been ruled by dictator Alexander Lukashenko who has run an iron fisted regime for the past 24 years.

Lukashenko is known as Europe's Last Dictator and even admits it with pride. He represses all dissent.

Back to the Olympics. The 24 year old woman sprinter, angered her team's officials when she refused to participate in a race that she was not signed up for. For disagreeing with her team officials, they forcibly drove her to the Tokyo Airport and her ready to fly her back to Belarus where she would be jailed or even possibly placed in a mental asylum. The young woman begged for help from the Japanese Police. They intervened and she was taken into protective custody. She was then able to defect to Poland who gave her a humanitarian visa.

The International Olympics Committee opened up an investigation into the incident and punished the 2 head coaches of the Belarus Olympic Team.

TOKYO, JAPAN - AUGUST 06: (L-R) Belarus athletics head coach Yuri Moisevich and team official Artur Shumak arrive at Haneda international airport on August 06, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. Artur Shimak and Yury Maisevich, the two Belarusian coaches allegedly involved in an attempt to force athlete Krystina Timanovskaya to leave the Olympic Games in Tokyo, have had their Games credentials removed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and are now believed to be returning home. (Photo by Yuichi Yamazaki/Getty Images)

The 2 of them were forced to leave Japan at once and return to Belarus.

Belarus also made news earlier this year in May, when they forced a RyanAir flight to land to arrest a Belrusian journalist.

26 year old Roman Protasevich a Belarusian Journalist who fled Belarus years earlier was flying on a flight from Greece to Lithuania. While the Plane flew over Belarus airspace, the Belarusian Government sent a Mig Fighter Jet to force the plane to land.

After the plane landed, Belarusian KGB forcibly boarded the plane and grabbed the young man. Carrying him off to a Belarusian Prison. He thought he would never have to return to Belarus, but now he is in custody and possibly faces execution.

Belarus still carries out executions for political dissidents. With a gunshot to back of the head. Belarus is last country in Europe that still does this.

Thankfully the young sprinter was able to avoid that fate and was able to escape.

Of course past Olympics have seen some major political drama happen before too.

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