Ilya Kovtun, the silver medalist of the 2024 Olympics in artistic gymnastics, who decided to change his Ukrainian sports citizenship to Croatian, confirmed that he remains firm in his decision to compete for Croatia in the future.
The athlete told this to the Croatian local daily newspaper "Glas Slavonije".
He noted that he and his coach remained in Croatia, still training in Osijek. The process is going according to plan, waiting for the documents. However, he cannot estimate when he will receive permission to compete under the Croatian flag. Until then, he does not have the right to participate in official competitions. He assumes that this will happen in 2026.
"During 2025, all the paperwork will be streamlined, but, to be honest, I'm fine with that because the last three years have been very active and exhausting. I had 25-28 competitions a year, so now I can primarily recover from shoulder problems. In addition, there are new rules, so this year will help me improve my exercises even more," Kovtun explained.
In particular, he told how the decision to change his citizenship came about. According to him, a lot has happened to him over these three years, influenced not only by the war in Ukraine, but also by many personal situations.
"You know how snow comes down from a mountain - first in a small lump, and then it becomes bigger. So a lot has happened to me in these three years. It wasn't just the war in Ukraine that had an impact. There were enough such situations that forced me to change my citizenship. Of course, I feel a certain moral obligation to the people of Osijek. They accepted me here, I practically lived with them, slept, trained, and ate at Sokol," the athlete said.
He also said that when he won the Olympic medal, he had the feeling that people in Croatia were more happy than in Ukraine. Perhaps because Ukrainians have much more important problems.
Commenting on the huge outcry after the news about his change of citizenship, he said that he was sad on the first day. But when the insults continued to be directed at him on social media, he decided not to react.
"I think this is all a normal reaction. There is a war in Ukraine, people have bigger problems, and because of this they have become quite aggressive, because it is not easy to constantly live in stress, when every day you can lose your life. Many people supported me. I understand everyone. I have my own life, and I make decisions about it so that it is good for me in the future," he noted.
Kovtun emphasized that this was his personal decision, which his family supported.
"My family supported me. I am 21 years old and I can make my own decisions. My dad has lived in Poland for 13 years, and my sister has been with him for seven years. My mom was in Ukraine throughout the war. We had an old grandmother who died, so my mom will soon go to live in Poland. I haven't been to Ukraine since the war. I went to my dad in Poland, and they went to me in Osijek. Everyone was there for New Year's," the athlete added.
As "Apostrophe" wrote, the President of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine Vadym Gutzeit reported on the punishment that may await the silver medalist of the 2024 Olympics in artistic gymnastics, Ilya Kovtun.