Andrei Krauchanka: You Can't Herd People Into The Stall Anymore. The Point Of No Return Is Passed

The Belarusians will fight to the victory.

Andrei Krauchenka, track and field athlete, silver medalist of the 2008 Olympics, told theins.ru about his opinion on what is happening in Belarus after the presidential election.

"I have been training all my life and I have never paid attention to politics. In 2004, when I won the world junior championship, the employees came to my training camp with a suggestion: "There is such a power structure - the KGB. You will be registered there, you will have a rank, you will be attached". That is, being a member of the KGB, I would defend the honor of the country at sport competitions.

Athletes in Belarus are often forced to agree to join the law enforcement agencies. If you don't get a presidential scholarship (medalists of the world, European or Olympic championships get it, and there are not many of them in Belarus), then, not being in the military, you get a pretty low salary. And in the army it will be $50 more, and that's already a serious difference. That's why all the athletes go to the army. That's how they're recruited, and then they can't get out of it, and they're manipulated.

Last year, when we were to have the "European Games", I spoke out against them in an interview. I said that they were not necessary for Belarus, that it would be better to invest in children's sports, to increase the salaries of coaches. They immediately began to call me from the power structures, from the Ministry of Sports telling me to shut up. Then I realized that with all my merits I was just "zero", worthless. When this year, before the presidential elections, they started arresting presidential candidates for no reason, my eyes were finally opened.

At the end of this August, when the athletes decided to write a joint letter against violence, I was literally among the first signatories. Of course, everyone already knew very well what the consequences would be if you rebel against the system. And I did not have to wait long either. Siarhei Kavalchuk, the so-called Minister of Sports, had a list of those who had signed the letter on his desk. They took me off the national team and wanted to send me to Maladzechna to perform the duties of the KGB officer. I refused, and they fired me, leaving me without salary, without service record, without a place in the national team. And that was their mistake. They thought that it would scare all the others and they would withdraw their signatures. But athletes, once they've made a decision, go all the way.

Then, without any warning, Deputy Minister of Sports Mikhail Partnoi came to my place near Minsk with two wrestlers. He said that I had one last chance. I asked him: "Are you threatening me?" He hesitated at first, but then said: "You better think about your wife and child."

WRW? The authorities have not understood that for us this is the symbol of the fight against this dictatorship, against this violence. If I could choose under which flag to compete now, of course I would choose WRW. The green-red flag is now associated only with violence in my mind.

Only now I am slowly starting to return to training. I am supported by the Sports Solidarity Foundation headed by our swimmer, two-time Olympic silver medalist in 2012 Aliaksandra Herasimenia and I got a chance to prepare for the Olympics. However, it is very difficult to train in such conditions, my head is not in the sport at all. I am very worried about everyone who is imprisoned there. So I try as much as possible to give publicity to what is happening in Belarus - to speak out, to give interviews.

I can't help with money myself because I'm left without salary. But I and my friends-athletes help different people by donating our sports clothes. However, we try not to say who exactly helped, so as not to embarrass people. We also wanted to take part in other ways. But our people are so much united that as soon as you hear the news that it is necessary to help somebody, you find out that the help has already been raised. And it gives a great feeling that people will not be forced back into the stall, that the point of no return has been passed," - Krauchanka said.