Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya said on Thursday in Warsaw that she was "happy to be safe" in Poland.
She refused to return to her country for fear for her safety,
Threatened with being forcibly repatriated to Belarus after criticizing her country's sports authorities following a dispute at the Tokyo Olympics, the 24-year-old arrived on Wednesday.
She passed through Vienna, Austria, before reaching Poland, a country which granted her a humanitarian visa.
See also Belarusian sprinter threatened with repatriation: the illustration of a country "in a state of panic"
Until now unknown to the general public and discreet about politics, Krystsina Tsimanouskaya suddenly found herself in the spotlight.
She claimed on Sunday that she escaped forced repatriation to Belarus after public criticism she voiced.
She criticized Belarus' authorities for wanting to force her to take part in the 4x400-meter relay at the last moment, when she was initially supposed to run the 100-meter and 200-meter races, a decision that had outraged her.
A humanitarian visa for her husband
Fearing that she would end up in prison if she returned to Belarus, Krystsina Tsimanouskaya obtained help from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and police protection while at Tokyo-Haneda airport.
She then took refuge at the Polish embassy in the Japanese capital, while the IOC initiated an official investigation.
The Polish government, which has promised to "continue to actively support the entire Belarusian nation and persecuted opposition activists," also granted a humanitarian visa on Wednesday to the sportswoman's husband, Arseni Zdanevich, who had fled to Ukraine. .
He has not yet said when he will travel to Poland.
This incident sparked new international condemnations from Belarus, a former Soviet republic ruled with an iron fist by President Alexander Lukashenko since 1994 and whose son is the head of the National Olympic Committee. The pro-democracy movement in Belarus, which had become massive a year ago, is severely repressed by the authorities. Thousands of opponents have been arrested or had to go into exile.