Belarusian sprinter Kristina Timanovskaya boards Vienna-bound flight out of Tokyo

The 24-year-old athlete was set to compete in the women’s 200 meters at the Tokyo Olympics on Monday, but instead said team officials tried to forcibly send her back to Belarus against her wishes after she criticized sporting authorities. Her drama-filled plight has dominated global headlines around the Games and while her comments were not overtly political, her case has heightened fears of the safety of those who speak out against Belarusian officials.

Timanovskaya was seen arriving at Tokyo’s Narita airport on Wednesday morning with luggage and wearing blue jeans and a blue sweatshirt. She later boarded Austrian Airlines flight OS52, which took off at 11 a.m. local time.

The athlete had been expected to travel to Warsaw, Poland, where she was offered safe refuge and a humanitarian visa by the country’s Prime Minister. It is not clear if she will make a connection in Vienna on her way to Poland, or if she intends to stay in Austria, or travel elsewhere.

Poland’s Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz said in a tweet Timanovskaya, “is being taken care of by the Polish diplomatic service” but “due to security considerations we do not disclose the flight details.”

In an Instagram post, Timanovskaya said team officials made her pack her belongings, saying she was being cut from the Olympic team and flown back to Minsk. She was taken to Haneda airport on Sunday but refused to board the flight from Japan saying she feared for her safety and that she would be jailed in her home country.

Timanovskaya said she was threatened by team officials for going against a decision to enter her into the 4×400 meter relay — an event she had not competed in before — without her consent. She said her trainers didn’t tell her who had made the decision to send her home.

Belarus athlete Kristina Timanovskaya waves at the boarding gate for Austrian Airlines 0S52 at Tokyo's Narita international airport on August 4.

Speaking to CNN on Tuesday, Timanovskaya said she was upset that she was denied her chance to be in the Olympics.

“I was ready for the Games, especially for the 200 meters. They took away my dream of performing at the Olympics. They took this chance away from me,” she said.

International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams said on Wednesday the IOC will open a “disciplinary commission” to establish the facts of the case and as part of that will hear from national head coach Yuri Moisevich and Belarusian sports official Artur Shumak. Adams also said the Belarus National Olympic Committee had submitted a written report on the situation.

On Tuesday, the IOC launched a formal investigation into the incident.

The Belarus NOC said Timanovskaya was withdrawn from the Games due to her “emotional and psychological state.”

However, Timanovskaya refutes that claim, saying no doctors had examined her and that she had no health problems or mental issues.

Timanovskaya told CNN she realized she may be in danger when she called her grandmother before she was bundled to the airport by team officials.

“She said that I should not go back to Belarus because it was not safe for me there. She said they were saying bad things about me on (state-run) television: That I was ill; that I had psychological problems,” Timanovskaya said.