Alina Kabajeva brought her former mentor to the verge of rage, writes Bild.
Alina Kabajeva allegedly plays a hard backstage game. PDO
the president of Russia Vladimir Putin alleged mistress Alina Kabaeva did a cheeky stunt backstage. Saksalaislehti writes about it Bild.
Bild claims that Kabaeva had a hand in the game when the Russian rhythmic gymnastics national team coach for 24 years Irina Viner got fired. Viner was the head coach of the Russian national team, who piloted the country’s Olympic training center and coached several stars to become Olympic winners.
– The gymnastics mentor has been coldly dismissed. It was done by his former star student Alina Kabajeva, writes Bild.
Viner’s influence began to crumble in 2021, when Russian athletes were left without gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics. A little later, the 2004 Olympic gymnastics champion Kabajeva founded her own gymnastics academy.
Compared to Viner, the Academy immediately received more funding and support. The differences between the two escalated.
There was an incident between the mentor and the former student at the BRICS Games in 2024. Even before the Games, the promising gymnast Maria Borisova had defected from Viner’s team to Kabajeva’s academy.
Russia sent the national team and the Kabaeva Academy team to the games. Borisova finished second in the overall results.
A furious Viner scolded the judges and shouted at Kabajeva in the stands.
– Your Maria should sink into the ice! Viner is said to have been enraged.
According to Bild, the exchange of words was so violent that it cannot even be quoted in the newspaper text.
Revenge
For almost 25 years, Irina Viner was the leading figure of Russian rhythmic gymnastics. PDO
The scene angered Kabaeva once more. Shortly after the dispute, the organization led by Viner was disbanded and Viner had to leave his position as head coach.
– The Tsarina was furious, writes Bild.
According to the German newspaper, Viner was thirsty for revenge. He was married to an oligarch for 30 years Ali Sher Usmanov with who owns the newspaper Kommersant.
Kommersant is the only Russian media that has published critical articles about Kabaeva. The Olympic champion’s gymnastics academy has been accused in the newspaper of corruption and his athletes of poor success in the European Championships.
The newspaper quoted the Russian Ministry of the Interior and wrote that 8 billion rubles, or about 95 million euros, were embezzled in connection with the Academy’s construction work. About 18 million euros were related to money laundering. Thirteen people are awaiting trial. Some of the accused are former directors of Gazprom.
Putin and Kabaeva’s alleged relationship has been in the headlines for years. It has never been officially confirmed, but according to media reports, the couple has two children together.
After her successful sports career, Kabayeva entered politics and was elected to the Duma as a representative of Putin’s party, United Russia. The ex-athlete has also worked in the management of the National Media Group, a media company that publishes Russian propaganda.