Ukrainian biathlete fell in love with a scandalous Russian and gave up her career: after the invasion of 2022, the couple lives in Russia

While Russian biathletes cannot compete at the World Cup because of the invasion of Ukraine, the local press is throwing mud at the international union and raising old events, including the love story of Ukrainian biathlete Maria Kruchova and Russian team leader Alexander Loginov, who was once serving a sentence for doping.

OBOZ.UA also decided to recall how a promising athlete from Ternopil became the wife of one of the most scandalous biathletes of our time and gave up her own career for the sake of her family. And how the Loginovs were doing in Russia during the war.

Maria started biathlon at the age of 15, but she progressed rapidly and in 2012 made her debut at the World Junior Championships in Kontiolahti, Finland, where her best result was 30th place in the sprint. Interestingly, Loginov also competed there, winning three bronze medals.

Perhaps the young people met in Finland, as some fans speculated, or perhaps at other competitions. But in 2014, the 22-year-old Russian married another girl, his girlfriend, 19-year-old biathlete Margarita Yarostova, who was already a master of sports and a junior competition winner at the time of their meeting.

However, the Loginovs' family life was plagued by difficult trials that destroyed their marriage. Margarita suffered an injury that put her out of commission for a long time, and in 2014, Alexander was disqualified for two years for doping. The Saratov native was found to have erythropoietin.

Meanwhile, Kruchova's career has been on the rise. In December 2015, she scored her first victory at the Junior World Cup in Italy, winning the sprint.

Loginov returned in the 2016/2017 season and immediately had a successful run, becoming the European champion three times and a world championship medalist in the mixed relay.

Immediately, information appeared that the athlete's marriage had fallen apart. And rumors spread that a new Russian lover was behind it, a relationship with whom he carefully concealed. Everything became clear in August 2017, when Maria posted a photo with Loginov on her social media, and then he did the same. Although there is no evidence that the young people started dating while the Russian was still married.

Even after their relationship ceased to be a secret, Loginov and Kruchova did not say much about their personal life. This is largely because the news of the biathlete's romance was expectedly met with hostility by the press and many fans in Ukraine. Firstly, there had been a war between the countries since 2014, and secondly, the Russian had a bad reputation due to his doping past, and foreign colleagues such as Frenchman Martin Fourcade and Swede Sebastian Samuelsson refused to congratulate him.

The only thing that was known was that Loginov was greatly helped by the support of the Ukrainian woman. Alexander admitted that when Maria is around, "it's easier to run and my head is relaxed." Not surprisingly, in the 2018/2019 season, the leader of the Russian national team went to the North American stages of the World Cup with the reserves, as Kruchova was to make her debut at the top level in Salt Lake City.

That season, 23-year-old Maria showed her best results at the IBU Cup, finishing in the top 10 in the individual race and third in the single mixed relay in Switzerland. Of course, they decided to give her a chance at the World Cup. And although her sprint in the United States was not successful - she fell on the first lap and broke her chain, and then had two penalty laps and finished 72nd - Kruchova had prospects to compete for a place on the first team next season.

However, the Ukrainian biathlete chose not her career, but her family and her role as a support for the leader of the Russian national team, which three years after their wedding invaded Ukraine on a full scale.

"Maria knows me much better than other people. Adequate people, on the contrary, will be happy for the happiness of others," the Russian responded to all the talk about their couple.

In the spring of 2019, Maria and Oleksandr first got married in a small circle in Saratov, and then on May 12, they got married and had a wedding in Kruchova's native Ternopil. The Ukrainian's teammates from the national team were also there. And Yana Bondar said in an interview that she was very happy for Maria: "I know that everything is very sincere with them."

The coach of the Ukrainian national team, Yevhen Kolupayev, said at about the same time that Kruchova was ending her career and would not be part of the national team for the next season. The athlete denied this information, showing a photo from a training session, but in the end, it happened as the coach said.

In October 2019, Maria gave birth to Loginova's daughter. The coaching staff of the Russian national team even let the biathlete leave the training camp so that he could be with his wife. And when in February 2020, the Russian became the world champion for the first time, winning the sprint in Italy, he said that it was all thanks to his family.

"I haven't been home for a month and a half. To be honest, on the last lap, 85% of the time I was just thinking about my wife and daughter, because I want to see them, and that's probably why I managed to win," Loginov commented on his victory.

After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Loginov family continues to live in Russia. However, last season's Olympic medalist did not participate in domestic competitions and various Commonwealth Cups, citing health problems. And some local fans have already linked his decline to his Ukrainian wife, who has been "blowing his mind" since the outbreak of a full-scale war.

Meanwhile, after February 24, 2022, Maria made only one post on her Instagram, congratulating her husband on their wedding anniversary.

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