She escaped from the regime, now she will start at the World Championships for Poland. Great news from the PZLA
Kryscina Cimanouska can finally look at the upcoming World Championships in athletics with a smile. The Belarusian, who has had Polish citizenship since last year, got the green light to start at the competition in Budapest as a representative of Poland.
The story that Kryscina Cimanouska has written over the last two years is certainly suitable for a film script. In August 2021, the athlete specializing in sprint running announced that she had been removed from participation in the Tokyo Olympics due to criticism of the actions of the Belarusian sports authorities. Moreover, the officers tried to force her to fly to her homeland. Eventually, after police intervention, the player stayed in Japan and then went to Poland.
Kryscina Cimanouska can start at the athletics World Championships
The athlete has had Polish citizenship since 2022. She has already competed in several events as a representative of Poland, although officially the World Athletics federation did not recognize her results. This was the case, e.g. during the recent Polish Championships in Gorzów Wielkopolski. Cimanouska won two silver medals there, in the 100 and 200 meters.
Literally on the last stretch before the announcement of the lineups for the World Championships in athletics, however, World Athletics decided to change their minds. Cimanouska is no longer considered a Belarusian in the system, or a neutral player without a flag.
– Although in the electronic system of applications, Belarusian nationality is still displayed next to Krystyna’s name, but we have already agreed with World Athletics and the item will be changed to Polish in time. Tsimanouskaya will be entered by us for the 100 and 200 m runs and for the 4×100 m relay. In the latter we have already planned six representatives, but we will not withdraw any of these competitors, and the final composition of the relay team will be determined on site. As for the composition of the entire national team, we will announce it on Tuesday, August 8, says Krzysztof Kęcki, sports director of PZLA, for “Przegląd Sportowy” and Onet.
It can therefore be officially stated that Cimanouska will appear at the starting line during the upcoming World Championships in Budapest.
The Athletics World Championships are getting closer, what are our medal chances?
It is worth recalling that the event in Hungary is scheduled for August 19-27. The athletics team will probably again want to please the Polish fans with the number of medals won. However, the 2023 World Cup will be difficult, because many of the well-known figures, tipped for medals, are struggling with injuries or are just getting back into shape.
An example is Olympic multi-medalist Anita Włodarczyk. The hammer thrower is counting on another medal, but rather during the Olympic Games 2024 in Paris. On the other hand, we have Wojciech Nowicki and Paweł Fajdek among you. They will certainly count in the game for gold in the hammer thrower competition.