Yana Klochkova brought Ukraine four gold medals at the Olympic Games and received the title of Hero of the country. However, she chose her native Crimea for living, where she lives with her family. This predictably caused a strong reaction in Ukraine, where the swimmer is called a traitor.
Great achievements and honorary titles
Klochkova was born in Simferopol, which was then part of Ukraine, so the athlete performed at international competitions just for this country. The girl's talent was immediately noticed, she quickly got into the national team and at the age of 18 she made her debut at the Olympic Games in Sydney. And not just debuted, but brought three medals from Australia, two of which became gold.
Four years later, Yana took two more golds at the Athens Games in her favorite distances of 200 and 400 meters complex. By that time, she already had many state awards, but on August 18, 2004 she received the most important one. for exceptional sporting achievements at the Olympic Games, courage, dedication and will to win, increasing the sporting authority of Ukraine in the world. Yana was twice recognized as the athlete of the year in the country, and she is also an honorary citizen of Kharkov and Donetsk.
Career in politics
Ukrainian took part in the Olympic Games in 2008 in Beijing. She was chosen as the flag bearer for the national team, but did not win any medals. Nevertheless, Klochkova had a special status in Ukraine, she was considered a national hero. This prompted the start of a political career, in 2006 Yana collaborated with Viktor Yanukovych and was even elected a deputy of the Kharkov City Council from the Party of Regions.
br>She officially ended her career only in 2009. At the farewell ceremony in Kharkov, she was presented with an aquarium (popularly called her «golden fish»). Two years later, Klochkova headed the Kiev branch of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine, but in 2012 she left her post without waiting for the necessary support from the executive committee.
Yana did not particularly express her political position, which already raised questions in Ukraine, because there, if you do not criticize Russia, then you are not considered a real citizen. At the same time, Klochkova did not hesitate to appear in the same Kyiv at official events. In 2021, she swam across the Dnieper from the right bank to the left in the company of other sports stars of Ukraine, thus marking the anniversary of the victory at the Sydney Olympics.
Scandal and life in Russia
There were some minor scandals. Klochkova admitted that she was disappointed by the non-invitation to the celebration of the Independence Day of Ukraine, and in general considered this a sign of a bad attitude towards athletes in the country.
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“I consider it important that Olympic champions and titled athletes be present at such holidays as the 30th anniversary of Ukraine’s Independence Day. These are people who make our country known abroad, play the anthem of our country, raise the flag,” Yana Sport24tv quotes .ua.
Now she has become a national traitor. In one of the programs on Ukrainian TV, the presenter Slava Demin said that the athlete had moved with her family to the Crimea. According to other sources, Klochkova moved to the Russian peninsula even before the start of the NWO. In any case, the most titled athlete in the history of Ukraine now lives in Russia.
Yana herself does not comment on the ongoing events, she retired from foreign social networks or closed her profile there, leaving only Russian ones. The Ukrainians immediately began to harshly criticize Klochkova for betrayal, which, of course, should not be surprising. The main thing is that the great athlete feels comfortable in the Crimea and is not ashamed of it.