One of the best gymnasts in the world, Ilya Kovtun, has applied for Croatian citizenship in order to compete for the country's national team. The 21-year-old vice-champion of the 2024 Olympics as part of the Ukrainian national team has been living and training in Osijek for the last three years and has no plans to return to his native country.

The publication Jutarnji List writes about this, to which the information was confirmed by the coach of the Croatian team Vladimir Madarevich. It was he who, after the start of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, invited Kovtun and his coach Irina Gorbacheva to the country, who also submitted an application for a Croatian citizen passport.

" He learned the language, he has a girlfriend in Osijek, our sports society considers him one of its own. After everything we did for them, they decided to go this route.. And there are no prospects in Ukraine,” Madarevich said.

At the same time, he expects that the Ukrainian Gymnastics Federation (UGF) will not agree to the transfer of its athlete. This will lead to Ilya's suspension from international competitions for one year..

" At the same time, he performs in the French, Italian and German leagues, where he is not tied to any national team, so he will have decent competitive practice. If there is a quarantine, it is best for it to happen now, in the first year after the Olympic Games,” noted the Croatian coach.

Note that Kovtun is one of the most talented Ukrainian athletes. In 2024, in addition to the Olympic silver, he also won three gold medals at the European Championships in Rimini.