Vladimir Putin's secret gymnast 'lover' lost gold medal to Ukraine for doping
dailystar.co.ukVladimir Putin's hidden gymnast mistress Alina Kabaeva was stripped of a World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships gold medal back in 2001 - and it was handed over to her rival athletes from Ukraine.
Kabaeva and team-mate Irina Tchachina were stripped of their medals in individual and group events at the 2001 tournament having tested positive for a banned diuretic forcing a change in the leaderboards.The tests had been done months earlier at the 2001 Goodwill Games in Brisbane, Australia, and led to Ukraine securing individual all-around gold with Belarus subsequently moving up to silver and Bulgaria taking bronze.Kabaeva and Tchachina were convicted of using furosemide and disqualified for two years, retuning for the 2002 European Rhythmic Gymnastics Championship where Kabaeva won the individual all-around, after serving one year of her ban.Kabaeva, who went on to secure all-around gold at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, called time on her career in 2007 after a World Championship win in Patras, Greece.
Having been engaged to policeman David Museliani until their split in 2005, more recent reports suggest that she is the long-term partner of Putin - and that she has had three of his children in the last seven years.
Such reports are impossible to verify with the Kremlin, but according to the Spectator one outlet was shut down in Moscow for describing her in 2008 as his mistress.Kabaeva won a total of 14 World Championship medals, and 21 European Championship medals during her glittering career, and was a torch bearer at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.Putin has previously said: "I have a private life in which I do not permit interference.
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