"Without my permission": Ukrainian gymnast who got into a scandal over her statements about Poland explains her words

Vlada Nikolchenko, bronze medalist of the World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships, apologized for her words against Poland. The 20-year-old native of Kharkiv, who declared her hatred for Ukraine's allies, explained her statements as a result of a severe nervous breakdown.

Vlada wrote about this on her Instagram page. The four-time Grand Prix winner noted that she was in an unstable emotional state due to Russia's criminal war against Ukraine and regretted her words.

"I had a psychological breakdown. With every conflict, even a foreign conflict, because of the war in my country, there is stress that comes out of me without my permission in such an aggressive way. It was a situational emotion that I regret, I did not want to offend anyone. Please do not take it personally. It was not me who said it, but the emotions in me," Nikolchenko said.

As a reminder, immediately after the athlete's angry statement, the Ukrainian Gymnastics Federation (UGF) opened a disciplinary case against Vlada. And the vice president of the Ukrainian Gymnastics Federation, Iryna Blokhina, separately apologized to the Polish side.

As OBOZ.UA previously reported, Russian athletes, saying "we are not slaves," did not agree to compete in international competitions on "humiliating" conditions put forward by the International Gymnastics Federation.

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