TOKYO—The Belarusian sprinter who refused her team’s orders to fly home after a public dispute said she would never return home for fear for her life and is looking to continue her sporting career—and perhaps reach another Olympics—in another country.

In her first full press interview since the incident, Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, who received a Polish humanitarian visa on Monday, said her husband fled Belarus for neighboring Ukraine and they plan to meet up in Poland. Ms. Tsimanouskaya plans to fly to Warsaw as soon as Wednesday.

“I was just afraid for my life, afraid to go to jail,” Ms. Tsimanouskaya said. “I don’t think I can ever go back to Belarus.”

On Sunday, members of the Belarusian team in Tokyo took Ms. Tsimanouskaya to the airport in an attempt to send her home against her will after she publicly criticized the country’s national Olympic coaches. Ms. Tsimanouskaya didn’t board the flight and appealed to the International Olympic Committee for help.

Ms. Tsimanouskaya said she was looking to continue her athletic career abroad and despite the setback in Tokyo is looking ahead to the next Summer Olympics: Paris 2024.

“I dreamed for five years for these Olympic Games,” she said. “I’m still young and have a lot of chances. I want to go to my next Olympics.”

The incident has put the spotlight back on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who claimed victory in presidential elections last summer that most Western countries considered fraudulent and is continuing a widespread campaign of repression. Several prominent opposition figures have left Belarus, some in fear of arrest, others by force.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Mr. Lukashenko’s government “sought to commit another act of transnational repression” by attempting to force Ms. Tsimanouskaya to leave for exercising free speech.

Krystsina Tsimanouskaya said she was looking to continue her athletic career abroad.

Krystsina Tsimanouskaya said she was looking to continue her athletic career abroad.

Photo: Daniel Kozin/Associated Press

“Such actions violate the Olympic spirit, are an affront to basic rights, and cannot be tolerated,” he tweeted.

Mr. Lukashenko’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Last week, Ms. Tsimanouskaya complained on social media that she was put on the roster for the 4×400-meter relay, though had never run that race. She said she found out on the internet that she was supposed to run.

“As a professional athlete it was a shock because I had never run 400 meters. I could get injured. I don’t know what could have happened,” she said. 

On Sunday, the team leadership told her that if she stayed at the Olympics, she would be dismissed and suspended from the national team when she returns home and “maybe also have other problems,” she said. They told her she had 40 minutes to pick up her clothes and go to the airport.

Once there, she refused to board the flight and asked the Japanese authorities and the IOC for protection. She spent the night at an airport hotel and on Monday visited the Polish Embassy, where she received her visa. 

The Belarus Olympic Committee said in a statement that coaches had decided to withdraw Ms. Tsimanouskaya from the Games on doctors’ advice about her “emotional, psychological state.”  

Ms. Tsimanouskaya disputed that characterization, saying she was in a sound mental state.

“I was ready to run,” she said. She was entered to run in the 200-meter heats on Monday but didn’t compete.

Police officers stood guard outside the Polish Embassy in Tokyo on Tuesday.

Police officers stood guard outside the Polish Embassy in Tokyo on Tuesday.

Photo: Shuji Kajiyama/Associated Press

The Belarus Olympic Committee didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

In the interview, Ms. Tsimanouskaya said she was also afraid for her parents, who are still in Belarus. Her father has a heart problem, she said, and hasn’t been feeling well after the incident. 

“My mother is not answering her phone and it keeps ringing,” she said. 

The IOC said Tuesday that it launched a formal investigation into the involvement of the Belarus Olympic Committee in Ms. Tsimanouskaya’s case and asked it for a full report on the matter.

“We need to establish the full facts,” said IOC spokesman Mark Adams.

The IOC said in December that the leadership of the Belarus Olympic Committee hadn’t appropriately protected Belarusian athletes from political discrimination. The IOC suspended Mr. Lukashenko from all Olympic activities including the Tokyo Games. In March, the IOC didn’t recognize the election of Viktor Lukashenko, the president’s son, as the new president of the Belarus Olympic Committee.

Despite everything, Ms. Tsimanouskaya said she feels emboldened by the support she has received after the incident. 

“I feel stronger now,” she said. 

Write to Georgi Kantchev at georgi.kantchev@wsj.com