Olympic champion in artistic gymnastics Oleg Vernyaev shared his opinion regarding the change of citizenship by the silver medalist of the 2024 Games in Paris Ilya Kovtun.
In an interview with NV, he said that he learned about his teammate's decision from the news.
Vernyaev on Kovtun's decision and offers from other countries
Vernyaev admitted that since 2014 he has had “a lot of invitations from other countries”, but his position remains unchanged.
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When asked what opinion he was leaning towards in the situation with Kovtun, when some say it was the athlete's decision, while others said it was treason, Oleg replied:
— I am leaning towards the fact that I am in Ukraine. I was also invited (by other countries, — Ed.). The invitations were, believe me, very good financially, but I never even seriously considered them, — noted the gymnast.
Regarding the situation with Kovtun, Vernyaev said that you need to ask the athlete himself and his coach about this.
He said that the entire team had “more or less normal and adequate relations”. However, he did not talk to Kovtun about the situation with the change of citizenship, since he himself has been training in Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. That's why they only saw each other at competitions.
According to Verniaiev, Kovtun's departure to the Croatian national team is a colossal loss for Ukrainian sports and the Ukrainian national team.
— It's a colossal loss. Ilya was a leader. He is a top all-rounder, as the Olympic Games showed. In addition, he took the place of the best athlete in Ukraine perfectly when I was not there. The loss of such an athlete is colossal. In 2024, we were European champions, but at the next European championship, I don't know what will happen, — Oleg thinks.
On January 17, the head coach of the Croatian national team, Vladimir Madzharevich, confirmed that Ilya Kovtun was changing his sports citizenship and would play for their team.
In addition to the athlete, his coach Irina Gorbacheva also applied for Croatian citizenship.
