WARSAW: Belarusian sprinter KrystsinaTsimanouskaya, whose defection during the recent Tokyo Olympics gripped the Games, plans to apply for Polish sporting citizenship so that she can run for Poland. Tsimanouskaya, 24, was taken in by Warsaw this month after she refused to obey her coaches’ orders to return to Belarus from Japan following a dispute over their handling of the Belarusian Olympic team.She says that she feared for her safety in her homeland and that the decision to remove her from the Tokyo Games came from “high up”. Her coaches said she had mental health issues, a claim she denies. In an interview with the RBC television channel aired late on Wednesday, Tsimanouskaya said it can take three years to change sporting citizenship, but she hoped her application would be fast-tracked. “We are now going to try to change my sporting citizenship so that I can compete for the Polish national team,” she said. “I have decided to stay in Poland and compete for the Polish national team.” Last week, Tsimanouskaya told the Associated Press news agency that she had asked Polish officials to help her resume training following her defection.