This dream of the Olympics, it’s been there for quite a while. Svetlana Andriyuk started cross-country skiing at the age of ten, ran her first official race at the age of 14, and her talent soon became apparent. She also enrolled at the university, Faculty of Sports, but cross-country skiing was always her goal. But now Andriyuk is 22 years old and says on the phone: “My dream was to qualify for the Olympic Games, to run there and feel the atmosphere. But they took that away from me. And I don’t know why.”
The Belarusian Andrijuk no longer understands the world these days, just like her training colleague Darja Dolidowitsch, who is only 17 years old and one of the greatest cross-country skiing talents in the country. When the season started, her goal was to qualify for Beijing, knowing how difficult it would be because there are others at the national level and the Belarusian cross-country women have only two places. But at some point it became completely impossible because the system sort of kicked them out. Andrijuk reports that there have been strange events for a few months now, and suddenly her official status with the World Ski Federation Fis was set to “not active”. This means that, like Dolidowitsch, she can still train happily, but can no longer compete in races.
“My dream was the Olympics, but they took that away from me”: cross-country skier Swetlana Andriyuk.
(Photo: Private)
According to their own statements, the cross-country skiers did not receive an official explanation, and the Belarusian Federation did not respond to a request. But it was obviously because her coach Sergei Dolidowitsch, Darya’s father, who, as a seven-time Olympic participant, is one of the most famous athletes in the country, positioned himself against the regime of dictator Alexander Lukashenko.
The most prominent example is the track and field athlete Kristina Timanovskaya – it wasn’t even about politics for her
It is one of countless examples that illustrate how arbitrariness, fear and repression characterize sport in Belarus. Athletes don’t count much, everything has to work according to the system. In August 2020, large numbers of athletes supported the nationwide popular uprising against Lukashenko and the obviously falsified presidential elections. Several hundred of them signed an open letter calling for new elections. The regime hit back with incredible violence, and many athletes felt the consequences: some lost their jobs, others were in prison or had to pay fines, and many fled abroad.
The most prominent example of how to deal with your own athletes was the athletics sprinter Kristina Timanovskaya, who was supposed to be forced to return home by her own people at the Olympic Games in Tokyo in the summer of 2021 – it wasn’t even about politics for her, it was about criticism of their coach. In a spectacular way and with the help of the Japanese police, she was rescued and now lives in exile in Poland. But now the system wants to make sure that everything runs according to its will. Nobody should be able to say anything against the regime anymore.
Should be forced to return home by her own people at the Olympic Games in Tokyo in the summer: sprinter Kristina Timanowskaja.
(Photo: Martin Meissner/dpa)
The squad for the Winter Games was announced last week. Belarus is sending 28 athletes to Beijing. Some prominent names are missing, especially that of ski freestyle athlete Alexandra Romanovskaya, Olympic participant in 2018 and world champion in 2019 – and one of the most vocal athletes in the protests against Lukashenko. She lost her job, was briefly arrested and fined. In autumn, according to Belarus, it looked as if she still had a small chance of participating in the Olympics. But then the no came from higher levels.
Freestyler Hanna Huskowa is the only athlete who signed the anti-Lukashenko letter and starts in Beijing
Only with Hanna Huskowa is the situation different. The 29-year-old also competes in ski freestyle, the jumping discipline. Four years ago she won one of only two gold medals for Belarus at the Pyeongchang Olympics and afterwards she was a hero of the nation and the regime. There was a commemorative stamp with her face and she became Sportswoman of the Year. In August 2020, however, she also signed the letter of protest against Lukashenko. As a result, she was no longer a heroine for the regime, but a rebel, whose picture was removed from the little book “Belarus – Our Homeland,” which first-graders are given every fall when they start school, like the newspaper press ball traced. In Beijing she is still there – as the only athlete who put her signature under the open letter.
But behind this there is obviously a lot of pressure and a lot of calculation by the regime. Ignoring one of only two gold medalists in recent games – the other went to the women’s biathlon relay – was difficult even for the regime, Huskowa’s supporters believe. Then there would have been too many questions from the people in Belarus, but also from the world public. Huskowa was also not quite as conspicuous during the protests as, for example, Romanovskaya. Now the condition is that she has to remain silent; and in fact there have been no political statements from Huskowa in the recent past and generally only a few. But she has not withdrawn her signature on the anti-Lukashenko letter.
But if it starts in Beijing, that too will be used accordingly by the regime. If Huskowa succeeds despite the circumstances, the regime will adorn itself with her. If she fails, the narrative will quickly spread in Belarus that it is better not to oppose Lukashenko. “If you go there as a tourist and come back with nothing, it is better not to return to the country,” the president told the athletes before the Tokyo Games.
Lukashenko has long been a welcome guest of the Olympic family
The Belarusian athletes are hoping for support from the international federations – but that is manageable. Lukashenko has long been a welcome guest of the Olympic family and part-time President of the National Olympic Committee; he is even decorated with an Olympic medal. Only under great pressure did the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decide to exclude Lukashenko – and not to recognize the election of his son Viktor as his successor at the NOK leadership. But in a dictatorship like Belarus, the influence of the state on sport doesn’t stop there.
In the case of the two cross-country skiers Andriyuk and Dolidowitsch, the World Ski Association and the IOC have announced an investigation. Those involved don’t really have much hope, and not much has happened before the case became public, they say. “There are many questions before the Olympic Games, so ours is definitely not the most important one,” says coach Sergey Dolidovich. But Svetlana Andrijuk doesn’t want to give up her cross-country skiing ambitions completely: “I don’t want to stop, I want to keep having my chance. But in Belarus they don’t give me this chance.”