War Refugee from Ukraine Brings European Gold to Croatia
Ilja Kovtun, a 23-year-old native Ukrainian, won the European all-around title in his first appearance under the Croatian flag at the European Championships in Zagreb.
Ilja Kovtun, a 23-year-old native Ukrainian, won the European all-around title in his first appearance under the Croatian flag at the European Championships in Zagreb.
Croatian gymnast Ilja Kovtun won the European all-around title at the European Championships in Zagreb. The 23-year-old, born in Ukraine, triumphed in his first appearance under the Croatian flag by the narrowest possible margin of one thousandth of a point, edging out silver medalist Arseniy Dukhna with a total score of 82.832. Daniel Marinov took bronze with 81.899.
Kovtun posted the day's best score on the pommel horse with 14.500, while he was second on the high bar with 14.200. On the floor exercise, he placed fifth with 14.100, and he performed the vault to a satisfactory score of 13.900.
However, not everything went smoothly. Near the end of his routine on the pommel horse, he fell off the apparatus and received a score of 12.800. On the final apparatus, the rings, he scored 13.333.
Kovtun came to Croatia two years ago from Ukraine, a country for which he won 11 major medals, including a silver at the Paris Olympics. In late 2024, he applied for Croatian citizenship with the intention of competing for Croatia.
In an interview with Sportske novosti, he described how he left his homeland: "We didn't think about it. At first, it was really hard; I left Ukraine for just two weeks for a competition, and then it stretched into a month, two, three, four... We didn't go back home; we went from country to country."
In Osijek, he lived with 10-12 guys and 3-4 coaches, and after the World Championships in Liverpool, everyone left except him and his coach. She spoke with Mađarević, who told them they could stay as long as the war lasted and that he would help them.
The switch to the Croatian flag turned into a lengthy process. The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) approved the switch in July last year, but since the Ukrainians did not want to release him voluntarily, he faced a year-long "quarantine," i.e., a ban on competing for his new country. That period ended in July.
When news leaked that he had applied for Croatian citizenship, reactions in Ukraine were very harsh. Kovtun understands this: "It's all normal; I didn't see anything wrong with it. There's a war in Ukraine, people have a lot of problems, they live under constant stress, and they've become a bit aggressive because of it, so I can't blame them for anything."
"Some think one way, some another, and a lot of people supported me. But I understand both sides; it's all normal to me. For the first day or two, I was a bit sad about the messages on Instagram, but later I accepted that people can write whatever they want. I have my own life, and I have to make decisions about my life so that it's good for me."
Kovtun has been living and training in Osijek for years, where he feels at home and has found a girlfriend. Now, a few months after the ban on competing expired, he has won his first medal under the Croatian flag.
