The gymnastics world is stuck in a storm with no umbrella! That’s exactly how sports in Ukraine feel right now. Ever since the Ukraine-Russia war broke out in February 2022, the chaos has only snowballed into 2025 with no clear end in sight. What started as Russia throwing a tantrum over Ukraine’s growing ties with the West and NATO has turned into a drawn-out mess of land grabs, military standoffs, and constant tension. The fallout hit sports hard too! Time to time!

Firstly, Russian and Belarusian gymnasts were benched from international competitions, and even when the ban loosened in 2024, they still got shut out of the Paris Olympics. Now, with the war dragging on and no peace in sight- boom! Another curveball hit the gymnastics world!

Looks like Russian gymnasts just got another harsh reality check! On March 9, FIG President Morinari Watanabe dropped the bombshell in a Moscow suburb! Russian athletes and coaches won’t be competing under their nation’s flag as long as the Ukraine invasion drags on. Ouch! Watanabe, who’s also running for the presidency of the International Olympic Committee, made his first trip to Russia since the war began in 2022. And just to keep things balanced, he also visited Ukraine earlier this month.

Watanabe didn’t sugarcoat things! Ukrainian gymnasts are still strongly against sharing the stage with Russian athletes, especially with the ongoing conflict hitting so close to home. But Watanabe’s walking a fine line here. “In Ukraine, there are athletes who have lost their relatives in the war,” he said. “It’s very hard, but I should remain neutral as the FIG’s president. I have to protect the rights of Russian athletes, too.”

With the IOC election fast approaching on March 20 in Greece, Watanabe isn’t just dipping his toes into politics—he’s diving in headfirst with some game-changing ideas. He’s pitching the idea of spreading the Summer Olympics across five continents to lighten the financial load on host cities. But just as the spotlight turned to his big plans, the Russian gymnastics community found itself dealing with yet another setback just days before!

FIG’s controversial decisions leave more questions than answers in the gymnastics world

Things just got messy in the Russian gymnastics world! It all started when a list popped up, showing which gymnasts had been approved and denied – neutral status for international competitions. Not long after, the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) made things official, confirming the names on their updated Authorized Neutral Athletes (AIN) list. Olympic champ Angelina Melnikova cut, along with a bunch of rising stars who had only competed within Russia since the invasion of Ukraine. But here’s where things got spicy! Some big names didn’t make the list, and that’s when the drama started!

Among others, Viktoria Listunova was left out. Now, Listunova’s no rookie, she recently competed in Italy’s Serie A league and isn’t linked to any military sports clubs, which FIG’s own rules say should’ve worked in her favor. But despite that, she was still denied. Meanwhile, gymnasts like Daniel Marinov, Kirill Prokopev, and even Melnikova who are linked to military clubs were approved. Oh, and Marinov? He’s been openly pro-war, even landing on Ukraine’s list of athletes who’ve supported the conflict. Yet somehow, he still got the green light.

To add more fuel to the fire, Aleksei Usachov was also denied neutral status reportedly just for liking a pro-war social media post. The whole thing has left people scratching their heads. FIG’s decisions seem all over the place, punishing some athletes for political ties while letting others with similar backgrounds slide through. With tensions already running high in the gymnastics world, this controversy has only made things messier.