Exiled high jumper Žodzik wins world championship silver for Poland

September 22, Pozirk. Maryja Žodzik, a Belarus-born high jumper, secured the Polish team’s only medal at the World Athletics Championship in Tokyo yesterday and declared she is not willing to return to Belarus.
The Belarusian team did not compete as it was suspended by World Athletics.
“I have already settled in Poland,” Poland’s Interia Sport quoted Žodzik as saying. “Some time ago, there was hope that something would change [in Belarus’ politics], but now I think there is no chance of that.”
The athlete obtained Polish citizenship in March 2024 and represented Poland at the Olympics in Paris the same year.
Originally from the Brest region’s Baranavičy, Žodzik has been living in Poland since 2022. In 2021, she missed the Tokyo Olympics because officials from the Belarusian Athletic Federation failed to arrange her doping tests on time.
Five years ago in Belarus, she signed an open letter to condemn election fraud and police violence. Later, she also publicly condemned Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Most of the athletes who supported the 2020 postelection protests in Belarus faced reprisals and were deprived of the opportunity to compete in Belarus. Belarusian sprinter Kryścina Cimanoŭskaya also represents Poland after being persecuted in Belarus.
- Politics
- PoliticsPoczobut held in penal colony’s isolation wing amid health declineThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SecurityUkraine to try Volyn resident for sharing info with Belarus’ secret serviceThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsCichanoŭskaja: Belarus gains unprecedented attention in French foreign policyThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsSenators approve Belarusian-Russian deal against prosecution abroadThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsŁukašenka, Putin discuss regional situationThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy, Security
- Economy
- SocietyHome tattoo turns fatal for Maładziečna womanThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy, Politics
- EconomyBelarusians net sellers of foreign currency in January-SeptemberThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsLithuania scaling back security for Cichanoŭskaja – reportsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityOfficials holding four-day mobilization drill across BelarusThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsReprisals: Wargaming co-founder given lengthy prison term in absentiaThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SecurityPoland, Latvia see sharp rise in illegal entries compared with early October 2024The material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy, PoliticsBelarus, Oman sign memorandum on pulp and cardboard millThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsEU delegation calls for all regime prisoners to be freedThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SocietyBelarus, Oman sign visa waiver agreementThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsBelarusian opposition figures meet with diplomats in ParisThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsCritic says national pantheon reinforces Russian alignmentThe material is available only to POZIRK+