🇧🇾 Belarusian cross-country skier Darya Dolidovich has fled the country with her family because of fears of reprisals by authorities after she was barred from competition over the family's political views, she and her father said reut.rs/3syrCjg
Darya and her family are now in Poland, where she hopes to continue training, Sergei Dolidovich, a seven-time Olympian cross-country skier who also coaches Darya, told @Reuters in an interview by video call with his daughter
'Darya has been stripped of her right to take part in competitions,' Sergei said.
The Dolidovich family's departure comes a few days into the #Beijing2022 Winter #Olympics
The Belarusian national team is under scrutiny following the defection of sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya at the Tokyo Games last year reut.rs/34kM52Z
Darya, one of the country's most promising junior cross-country skiers, said last month that the Belarus Ski Union deactivated her FIS code, an individual identifying number required for athletes to take part in competitions run by the International Ski Federation
Last month, @Reuters reported that 17-year-old Darya was barred from competing for what Sergei and his daughter believe was his participation in street protests against the 2020 re-election of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko reut.rs/34sFyTM
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