Olympic sprinter from Belarus, Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, decided to defect as she was being driven to a Tokyo airport because her grandmother told her that it wasn't safe to return home.

In an exclusive interview with Reuters in Warsaw, she said her family feared she would be sent to a psychiatric ward if she went back to Belarus, and that her grandmother had called her to tell her not to return.

"I am not one of those people who are scared. I am always staying for the truth. I respect myself. I respect my work."

"They were using enigmas, they used strange expressions about a net that I would get tangled in, that it would lead to inevitable consequences which would cause other people being fired and that it would be not good for you to. There were no direct threats. But I could understand it."

The 24-year-old athlete caused a furore on Sunday when she said coaches angry at her criticism had ordered her to fly home from Tokyo. After seeking protection from Japanese police, she flew on Wednesday to Poland instead of Belarus.

Poland, which has long been critical of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko and harbored many activists from Belarus, has granted Tsimanouskaya and her husband humanitarian visas but her grandmother remains there.

"Grandmother called me when they were already driving me to the airport," the athlete said. "Literally, I had some 10 seconds. She called me, all that she told me was: 'Please do not come back to Belarus, it's not safe."

Tsimanouskaya's saga, reminiscent of Cold War sporting defections, threatens to further isolate Lukashenko, who is under Western sanctions after a crackdown on opponents since last year, Reuters reported.

The sprinter, who had criticized negligence by her team coaches, spent two nights in Poland's embassy in Japan before flying out to Vienna and then Warsaw on Wednesday.

The Belarus National Olympic Committee (NOC) had said coaches withdrew Tsimanouskaya from the Games on doctors' advice about her emotional and psychological state. It did not immediately respond to requests for additional comment on Thursday.

The International Olympic Committee has started an investigation into Tsimanouskaya's case and said it would hear from the two Belarusian officials allegedly involved.

The IOC said on Tuesday it was waiting for a report later in the day from the Belarusian National Olympic Committee on the case of sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, after launching an investigation into the incident that has rocked the Games.

The athlete took refuge in the Polish embassy in Tokyo on Monday, a day after refusing her team's orders to board a flight home from the Olympic Games. Warsaw has offered her a humanitarian visa, Reuters reported.

International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams told reporters the body had spoken to the athlete twice on Monday, that she was in a safe, secure place, and that the IOC needed to know all the facts before taking further action.

Tsimanouskaya, 24, had been due to compete in the women's 200 metre heats on Monday but said that on Sunday she was taken out of her room in the athletes' village and driven to the airport to board a flight home after criticising team officials.

The incident has focussed attention on Belarus, where police have cracked down on dissent following a wave of protests triggered by an election last year which the opposition says was rigged to keep Lukashenko in power, Reuters reported.

"We have also now contacted the NOC of Poland. In terms of what the IOC can for her future we have talked to them with regard to her sport, after her arrival in Warsaw if that is indeed where she chooses to end up," Adams said.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken blasted Belarus' attempt to send Tsimanouskaya home.

"Such actions violate the Olympic spirit, are an affront to basic rights, and cannot be tolerated," Blinken wrote on Twitter late on Monday.

Tokyo Games organisers are investigating after a group of athletes were found drinking alcohol in the Olympic village this week, an incident attended by police, the CEO of Tokyo 2020 said on Sunday.

Reuters reported the athletes were caught drinking in a park in the athletes' village on Friday night, Toshiro Muto told a news conference, in contravention of COVID-19 measures at the Games.

"We are looking into the matter. We will take appropriate steps based on our findings," he said. Police were also at the scene, he said, adding it was not clear what action they took, if any, Reuters reported.

Muto did not give details of the number of athletes involved or their nationalities.

Organisers previously said athletes are permitted to drink alcohol only in their rooms and only if they are alone, as a precaution against COVID-19.

The Games are taking place in Tokyo without spectators and athletes and Olympic visitors have remained in a "bubble" with regular testing for the coronavirus.