"I hate this country with all my heart". UGF opens case against famous Ukrainian gymnast after post on social media

Vlada Nikolchenko, a bronze medalist at the 2019 World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships and a bronze medalist at the European Championships, has been involved in a loud scandal in Poland. The 20-year-old native of Kharkiv posted a story on her Instagram where she spoke negatively about Poles.

While in Warsaw at the Fryderyk Chopin airport, Vlada said that her mood had been spoiled in the morning.

"I hate this country with all my heart, and most of all, I hate the people who live here. I am here only because the airport in my native Ukraine was closed," Nikolchenko said.

These words of the winner of the 2018 Grand Prix final and two-time World Cup winner in the mace exercise caused a negative reaction from the former secretary general of the Polish Gymnastics Federation.

Piotr Dec wrote on his Facebook page that he was outraged by the situation.

"On the first weekend of November, Vlada Nikolchenko held a master class in Warsaw, Poland, during the Warsaw Autumn 2023 rhythmic gymnastics tournament. She also took part in this tournament <...> I really hope that she will not have to go through the Polish horror again and will never be forced to set foot in Poland again, even for a moment, traveling to exotic places," the former Secretary General said.

Dec contacted Irysha Blokhina, vice president of the Ukrainian Gymnastics Federation (UGF), who apologized for Nikolchenko's remarks.

Later, a message appeared on the Facebook page of the UGF that a disciplinary case had been opened against Vlada.

It should be noted that in the summer of 2021, Vlada announced that she was taking a break from her sports career due to the need to restore her health after suffering from severe COVID-19 and moved to the United Arab Emirates to train.

In February 2022, a medical examination revealed a serious shoulder injury that required surgery, but due to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the operation was postponed until September, after which three months of recovery did not involve any physical activity on the joint.

In 2023, two weeks before the national championship, she returned to Kyiv and resumed training with Iryna Deryuhina. At the Ukrainian Championships, she took twelfth place in the absolute championship and qualified for two finals in separate events (ball and ribbon), where she won a bronze medal in the ribbon exercise.

In November 2023, at the Warsaw Autumn tournament in Poland, Nikolchenko won the all-around in category B. Then she shared the first place on the podium with Anastasia Ikan (category A) in the mace final. Both gymnasts received the same score of 32.500 for their performance.

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