Rio 2016: From Russia without love

Kiev: For Ukrainian rhythmic gymnast Ganna Rizatdinova the Rio Games offers a chance of redemption and revenge after powerhouse Russia annexed her home region Crimea.

Former world championship gold medallist Rizatdinova, 23, is Ukraine’s biggest hope to get on the podium in a discipline traditionally dominated by Russian competitors.

The contest in Brazil plays out against the backdrop of intense tensions between Kiev and Moscow after Russia annexed Crimea following Ukraine’s ouster of a pro-Kremlin leader in early 2014.

“I have the biggest chance,” Rizatdinova said. “It is all in my hands.” Rizatdinova — the daughter of a Tatar Muslim and an ethnic Russian — comes from the city of Simferopol in Crimea but moved to train in Ukraine’s capital Kiev at the age of 16.

In 2012 she finished a disappointing 10th place at the Olympic Games in London but managed to fight her way back to win a silver medal at the all-around event and gold medal in the hoop at the world championships in Kiev in September 2013.    

But just months later the city erupted into mass protests against Russia-backed president Viktor Yanukovych that turned the centre of the capital into a war zone.
Those events set off a chain reaction that saw the Kremlin seize control of Crimea in March 2014 and sent relations between Russia and the West to their lowest since the Cold War. In the wake of the takeover and as the fighting spread to other areas of eastern Ukraine — competitors from those regions saw the political crisis hit their sporting futures. Athletes have come under pressure to make a choice — to stick with Ukraine or switch to Russia.