Ukrainian gymnast Ilya Kovtun has decided to change his sports citizenship — he will represent Croatia.
This was told to Jutarnji List by the coach of the Croatian national team Vladimir Madžarević.
At the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, Madžarevic invited Ukrainian athletes to come to the city of Osijek and prepare for the European Championships at the local sports center.
The idea was for the Ukrainians to stay there for two months. However, Kovtun, along with coach Iryna Horbacheva, decided to stay in the city and have been living and training there for almost three years.
Kovtun, as well as his coach, have already submitted documents to the Croatian Ministry of Internal Affairs to obtain Croatian citizenship. The gymnast should receive it through an expedited procedure.
After that, it will be necessary to submit documents to the International Gymnastics Organization. The Croatian coach believes that there may be problems due to resistance from Ukraine, which "will definitely not release him voluntarily."
"There are different options, and, according to our data, the worst that can happen is a year of quarantine or a break from major competitions (…) If there is going to be a quarantine, it would be best for it to come now, in the first year after the Olympic Games," Madžarevic said.
- Ilya Kovtun is 21 years old, he is originally from Cherkasy. He is a multiple European champion among juniors. At the 2024 Olympics in Paris, he won silver in the uneven bars.
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