Gymnast Illia Kovtun switches from Ukraine to Croatia after winning

Illia Kovtun has changed citizenship to Croatia after winning Ukraine’s lone gymnastics medal at the Paris Olympics.

He will be qualified to return to global competition in July 2026, according to the Croatian gymnastics federation. Throughout the war in Ukraine, Kovtun has lived and trained in Croatia.Gymnasts who alter nationality needs to sit out one year if there isn’t complete approval for the switch among the 2 nations and the International Gymnastics Federation executive committee.”It wasn’t simply the war in Ukraine that influenced me, “Kovtun stated in April of switching, according to a translation of a Croatian report.”There were a great deal of situations that made me decide to change my citizenship.”Kovtun, 21, won parallel bars silver in Paris

and became part of the very best Ukraine Olympic team surface in 12 years (5th location ). He was also a world champions well-rounded medalist

in 2021 (bronze )and 2023(silver). The 2025 World Championships are in Jakarta, Indonesia, in October. There will be more women’s quota locations than guys’s quota locations at the Olympics for the first time.