A Russian gymnast rumoured to be in a relationship with Putin has emerged in Moscow aftrer not being seen for several months, appearing at a gymnastics event in the Russian capital
A Russian gymnast who is rumoured to be a lover of President Vladimir Putin has made a rare public appearance at an international gymnastics competition in Moscow. 43-year-old former Olympic champion Alina Kabaeva was spotted attending the final of the Strongest Cup at the Irina Viner Gymnastics Palace, wearing a striped shirt, black trousers and high heels.
Footage of her appearance subsequently emerged online, with Kabaeva apparently there to support young athletes from her Heavenly Grace gymnastics academy, who won more than ten medals at the tournament.
Kabaeva, who has long been rumoured to have multiple children with Putin, is known to be something of a recluse, having rarely made public appearances over the last few years.
Kabaeva has long been dubbed Vladimir Putin’s “secret lover”, with rumours swirling for years that the pair share a hidden family away from the public eye.
The 43-year-old former Olympic gymnast was once dubbed “Russia’s most flexible woman”, and is widely believed to have been romantically involved with the Kremlin tyrant for nearly two decades.
Kabaeva won gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics before swapping gymnastics for the world politics, becoming an MP in Putin’s United Russia party.
Rumours of their romance first emerged back in 2008, when a Russian newspaper claimed Putin had secretly divorced his wife Lyudmila and was preparing to marry the glamorous gymnast.
The Kremlin furiously denied the allegations, while the newspaper shut down shortly after the story was published. Putin did eventually divorce Lyudmila in 2013, but neither he or Kabaeva have ever publicly acknowledged a relationship since.
Despite this, reports have maintained that the pair share several children, including two young sons who allegedly live a life of extraordinary luxury and secrecy on Putin’s heavily guarded estates.
Kabaeva has even been hit with a series of sanctions from the UK and EU over her links to the Russian despot following his invasion of Ukraine.
Despite her mysterious private life and the salacious rumours that have followed her around, she is seen as an influential figure in Russian sport and heads up the elite Heavenly Grace rhythmic gymnastics academy, where she trains the country’s next generation of Olympic gymnasts.
Kabaeva is on record as saying she had met a man who “I love very much”, gushing: “Sometimes you feel so happy that you even feel scared.”
Kabaeva once posed almost nude for Maxim magazine and was described as “full of sex” by a photographer. There have been many reports of her wearing a wedding ring, but no records of a marriage.