Ukraine condemns Olympic diver Lyskun’s switch to Russia

Sofiia Lyskun competes in the women's 10m platform diving preliminary at the 2024 Summer Olympics, on Aug. 5, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Ukraine has condemned two-time Olympic diver Sofiia Lyskun’s switch to represent Russia amid the ongoing war and will try to strip her of awards.

The 23-year-old Lyskun told the Russian newspaper Izvestia this week that “coaches’ incompetence” was a factor in her decision.

“Most of our coaches are gymnasts or trampoline athletes. How can someone from a completely different field teach you anything? In recent years, I’ve realized in sports in Ukraine that I’m not growing,” Lyskun said in a video interview.

Lyskun, who competed at the 2024 Paris Olympics and the pandemic-delayed 2020 Tokyo Games, said there was too much focus on individual preparation.

“I finally realized it was a one-way street. No one supported me, but on the contrary, it was aggravating my psychological state and making the whole situation worse,” she said. “I had moments when I didn’t go to training for about a week, and I just sat at home crying. Nothing good came of it.”

The Ukrainian Diving Federation called Lyskun’s decision “categorically unacceptable.” The Ukrainian team, it added, “selflessly fights every day for the right to represent our country on the international stage.” Coaches and parents of athletes “have stood up and are defending Ukraine.”

The federation said it will seek to strip Lyskun of all awards she won and will appeal to international sports institutions to apply competition restrictions on her.

Lyskun, a native of Luhansk, also citied criticism she received for her having maintained contact with Russian-speaking coaches. She said her first coach from her youth is now working in Moscow.

“When she left, I spoke to her periodically and kept in touch. And when there were competitions, I saw her constantly, constantly talked to her. And now, at the last competition, I’m being criticized in front of everyone,” she said.

The city of Luhansk is a regional capital of Ukraine’s eastern region of the same name which, together with the neighboring Donetsk region, forms the Donbas area, where separatists backed by Moscow sought to break away from Ukraine starting in 2014. That year, large parts of the Donbas — including the city of Luhansk — were overrun by these forces. The city has remained occupied ever since.

In 2022, Russia illegally annexed Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, even though it doesn’t fully control those areas. The city of Luhansk remains occupied.

Lyskun competed in the 10-metre platform in Tokyo and Paris, where she also took part in the synchronized 10-metre platform.

Lyskun and Kseniya Baylo won gold in the 10-metre synchronized springboard at the 2024 European Aquatics Championships.

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The Associated Press