Athletistic/ Others. Gymnast Ekaterina Vedeneeva, who changed sports citizenship in 2018 and started representing the Slovenian national team, explained the reasons for her departure from the Russian national team.

“I was in the main team of Russia for eight years. The main team consists of eight people and two or three gymnasts participate in the main starts, so it was very difficult to break into the World Cups and the championships. When I was 23 years old, I realized that I had two options – to finish or to look for another path. It was very difficult to obtain citizenship, we were refused twice. Six months later, I received citizenship, Irina Aleksandrovna (president of the All-Russian Federation of Rhythmic Gymnastics (VFCG) Irina Viner-Usmanova – about Athletistic) gave the green light, she understood that in Russia I could not go to the World Cup, especially the Olympics. As a result, I continued my career and played for Slovenia”, said Vedeneeva.

Ekaterina Vedeneeva is a three-time winner of the Slovenian championship (2019, 2021, 2022). She became the first Slovenian gymnast to participate in the Olympics: at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Vedeneeva took 16th place in the qualification, failing to qualify for the final part of the tournament. Ekaterina became the first gymnast in the history of Slovenia to win a medal at the World Games: in 2022, at the games in Birmingham, Vedeneeva became the bronze medalist of the interclub competitions.