The interview has been done in collaboration with the Nordic public service companies EPN and NRK.
In the 2020 Belarusian elections, Olga Safronova was part of the protest movement against President Aleksandr Lukashenko.
She chose to publish a social media post that included a photo with the Belarusian opposition flag flying in the background.
– I wrote that love is stronger than fear. That the love for our people and our choice must prevail, and that I was on the people’s side, she says.
Olga Safronova says that a manager at the Belarus Olympic Equestrian Center demanded that the post be deleted. But she refused, and lost her national team contract.
The red-white flag on the mast is the opposition flag in Belarus and has become a symbol of the protest movement. Photo: Instagram
Ahead of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, the next problem arose.
According to an investigation by the Belarus State Veterinary Center, her competition horse Sandro was lame and the Belarus Olympic Committee struck the team from the Olympic squad.
Olga Safronova was the reigning Belarusian dressage champion at the time and is sure that the injury to Sandro was made up.
– I was completely convinced that it was not right. So it was a committee of three state veterinarians that came up with this.
Is listed as a “traitor” in Belarus
Today, Olga Safronova lives in Poland with her husband and horses. She has been granted a humanitarian visa and has a good chance of competing for Poland at the Olympics in Paris this summer.
In Belarus, according to several media reports, she is listed as a “traitor” and risks being arrested if she returns.
– It has not been easy. We had to start from scratch. My husband and I changed countries and languages. And I still miss my homeland, says Olga Safronova.
Hear her develop the feeling of changing countries in the player above.