Well if you’re going to be the first leader of Russia to get a divorce since Peter the Great, it might as well be with a former Olympic medal-winning gymnast.
Putin’s separation from wife Lyudmila was the worst-kept secret in all the Russias — they had rarely been seen together in recent years, and lived in separate residences. The rumor was that Putin had been dating — and may even have children with — former Olympic gymnast Alina Kabayeva, who is 30 years his junior. See the slideshow below and his reasoning comes into focus.
On Thursday night Putin and Lyudmila, after a night at the opera at the Kremlin, announced on TV that, indeed they are divorced.
Kabayrva is now actually a member of the Russian Parliment, but got her start in Rhythmic Gymnastics. That’s a move that we here in the U.S. haven’t even pulled off.
Kabayeva is best known in her native Russia for participating in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, where she took home a bronze medal, followed by a gold medal four years later in Athens. Putin reportedly requested an audience with the then-17-year-old Kabayeva upon her return from Sydney.
Though reps for both Kabayeva and Putin have denied the allegations of an affair, a St. Petersburg wedding planning firm claimed they had been contacted to plan the couple’s wedding in 2008. Kabayeva gave birth to a son last year, though the father has never been publicly identified.
The Kabayeva Files:
