Ukrainian diver Lyskun switches allegiance to Russia, loses all medals

Ukrainian officials termed Lyskun’s power ‘categorically unacceptable’ and person stripped her each of medals and awards.

The Ukrainian Diving Federation has stripped Sofiia Lyskun of each her medals and awards pursuing her determination to power allegiance to Russia.

Lyskun, who represented Ukraine astatine the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the Paris Games past year, revealed the alteration successful an interrogation with a Russian paper earlier this week.

The federation said Lyskun had not informed them, her coaching unit oregon Ukraine’s sports ministry astir her determination to follow Russian citizenship.

“Such steps are categorically unacceptable,” it said successful a connection connected Friday.

“They discredit not lone an idiosyncratic athlete, but besides the full squad of Ukraine which each time selflessly fights for the close to correspond our state successful the planetary arena.

“The Diving Federation of Ukraine volition besides entreaty to planetary sports institutions with a request to use sports quarantine to this jock successful accordance with existent planetary standards,” it added.

Lyskun won a 10-metre synchronised diving golden for Ukraine with Kseniia Bailo astatine past year’s European aquatics championships successful Belgrade arsenic good arsenic squad golden astatine the 2018 lawsuit successful Glasgow.

The 23-year-old told Russian outlet Izvestia that her power was based connected concerns for her maturation arsenic an jock arsenic each Ukrainian coaches were gymnasts oregon trampoline athletes.

“How tin idiosyncratic from a wholly antithetic tract thatch you anything? Over the past fewer years successful sports successful Ukraine, I realised I wasn’t growing,” she said.

Russian and Belarusian athletes were banned from World Aquatics events aft Moscow’s 2022 penetration of Ukraine, but immoderate of their athletes competed arsenic neutrals successful the Paris Olympics arsenic the restrictions were eased.