{"id":3010,"date":"2025-12-04T17:04:16","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T18:04:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/?p=3010"},"modified":"2025-12-05T13:46:36","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T13:46:36","slug":"ukraine-cries-betrayal-as-diving-champion-takes-russian-citizenship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/04\/ukraine-cries-betrayal-as-diving-champion-takes-russian-citizenship\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine cries \u2018betrayal\u2019 as diving champion takes Russian citizenship"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Sofia Lyskun cited political pressure to cut ties with Russia as among the reasons for her decision<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>European diving champion Sofia Lyskun has renounced her Ukrainian citizenship and obtained a Russian passport, citing political pressure in Ukraine to cut ties with Russia. The head of Ukraine\u2019s National Olympic Committee, Vadim Guttsait, called her decision a\u00a0<em>\u201cbetrayal.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>A four-time European champion and two-time Olympian, Lyskun claimed she was repeatedly reprimanded for staying in touch with her first coach, who had relocated to Moscow after the Ukraine conflict escalated in 2022. She said staff at training camps told her that <em>\u201cno one else was in contact with Russians,\u201d<\/em> and she could not understand why such remarks were directed at her.<\/p>\n<p>The 23-year-old Lugansk native argued that Ukrainian sport portrayed itself as <em>\u201coutside politics,\u201d<\/em> yet athletes <em>\u201cwere the first to feel the pressure.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>She also stated that she experienced <em>\u201clong-standing dissatisfaction\u201d<\/em> with the training process in Ukraine and felt that <em>\u201cprofessional requirements were not met.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Lyskun said she has now formally obtained Russian citizenship and plans to represent Russia internationally after taking part in domestic competitions.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\n        <span><strong>Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<figure>\n            <img src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"FILE PHOTO: Russia&#039;s Sergei Samoylovich, in white, and Germany&#039;s Dmitry Peters during the bout for 3rd place in the men&#039;s 100kg division at the international Grand Slam Judo tournament in Moscow.\" class=\"lazyload\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/692854a3203027419c4e8828.jpg\"><figcaption><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rt.com\/news\/628533-judo-russia-reinstated\/\">Olympic sport federation allows Russians to compete under own flag<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Her transition comes as international sports bodies have begun to adjust eligibility rules for Russian athletes, who have faced restrictions since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. World Aquatics announced that starting next year Russian and Belarusian teams may return to global competitions under a neutral flag.<\/p>\n<p>Last week, the International Judo Federation became the first Olympic-sport body to restore Russian athletes\u2019 right to compete under their national flag <em>\u201cwith anthem and insignia,\u201d<\/em> beginning with the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Slam.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the International Olympic Committee\u2019s new president, Kirsty Coventry, called to keep politics out of sport and <em>\u201cguarantee access for all.\u201d<\/em> She had previously opposed banning athletes due to their countries\u2019 involvement in armed conflicts and announced plans to initiate discussions on Russia\u2019s return to the Olympics.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sofia Lyskun cited political pressure to cut ties with Russia as among the reasons for her decision European diving champion [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3012,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3010"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3010"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3010\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3014,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3010\/revisions\/3014"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}