Gymnast Illia Kovtun switches from Ukraine to Croatia after winning Olympic silver

Illia Kovtun has switched nationality to Croatia after winning Ukraine’s lone gymnastics medal at the Paris Olympics.

He will be eligible to return to international competition in July 2026, according to the Croatian gymnastics federation. During the war in Ukraine, Kovtun has lived and trained in Croatia.

Gymnasts who change nationality must sit out one year if there isn’t full consent for the switch among the two nations and the International Gymnastics Federation executive committee.

“It wasn’t just the war in Ukraine that influenced me,” Kovtun said in April of switching, according to a translation of a Croatian report. “There were a lot of situations that made me decide to change my citizenship.”

Kovtun, 21, won parallel bars silver in Paris and was part of the best Ukraine Olympic team finish in 12 years (fifth place).

He was also a world championships all-around medalist in 2021 (bronze) and 2023 (silver).

The 2025 World Championships are in Jakarta, Indonesia, in October.

There will be more women’s quota places than men’s quota places at the Olympics for the first time.