Ukraine Olympic diver Sofiia Lyskun stripped of all titles after switching to Russia
Ukrainian condemns two-time Olympian Sofia Lyskun’s move to representative role Russia and will try to take away his rewards.
Lyskun, 23, told Russian newspaper Izvestia this week that “the incompetence of the coaches” was a factor in his decision.
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“Most of our coaches are gymnasts or trampoline athletes. How can someone from a completely different field teach you something? In recent years I realized that I have not grown in sports in Ukraine,” she said in a video interview.
Lyskun competing in Paris 2024 Olympics and the 2020 Tokyo Games, which were postponed due to the pandemic, there was too much focus on individual preparations, he said.
“I finally realized that it was a one-way street. No one was supporting me, but on the contrary, it was aggravating my psychological state and making the situation worse,” he said.
Ukraine’s Sofiia Lyskun will compete in the women’s 10 m platform diving qualifiers at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Saint-Denis, France, on August 5, 2024 (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)
“For about a week there were moments when I didn’t go to training and I just sat at home and cried. Nothing good came of it.”
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The Ukrainian Diving Federation called Lyskun’s decision “categorically unacceptable”. He added that the Ukrainian team “selflessly fights every day for the right to represent our country on the international stage.” Coaches and parents of athletes “stood up and defend Ukraine.”
The federation said it would seek to have all awards won by Lyskun stripped and would call on international sports bodies to impose competition restrictions on him.
Luhansk native Lyskun also addressed the criticism he received for maintaining contact with Russian-speaking coaches. He said that his first coach in his youth now works in Moscow.
“When he left, I talked to him periodically and kept in touch. When there were competitions, I saw him all the time, talked to him all the time. Now, at the last competition, I am being criticized in front of everyone,” he said.
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The city of Luhansk is the regional capital of Ukraine’s eastern region of the same name and, together with the neighboring Donetsk region, forms the Donbas region, from which Moscow-backed separatists have sought to secede from Ukraine since 2014.
That year, much of Donbas, including the city of Luhansk, was overrun by these forces. The city has been under occupation since then.
In 2022, Russia illegally annexed the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine, although it does not fully control these regions. The city of Luhansk is still occupied.
Lyskun competed on the 10 meter platform in Tokyo and Paris, where he also took part in the synchronized 10 meter platform.
Lyskun and Kseniya Baylo won gold in the 10-meter synchronized springboard at the 2024 European Aquatics Championships.
