Who is Alina Kabaeva, Vladimir Putin’s rumoured ‘secret first lady’? How the Russian former gymnast went from Olympic champ to politician, style icon … and possible president’s wife

May 4 , 2022

Alina Kabaeva is a former Olympics gymnast and Russian politician who is rumoured to be Russia’s secret first lady to Vladimir Putin. Photo: @boccaccio.francesco/Instagram

The former world-class Olympian is under scrutiny in Switzerland, where a petition calls for her expulsion – she’s there with her four kids, whose dad is rumoured to be Putin

She posed nude for Maxim, covered Russian Vogue, worked for the United Russia party and heads the National Media Group, making US$9.4 million a year – she owns a fleet of Maybachs too

As Russia continues to attack Ukraine, citizens in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine have launched a strongly-worded petition on Change.org demanding that Switzerland expel Alina Kabaeva, the “favourite wife of the delusional dictator and war criminal”.

Although British media recently reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin is hiding Kabaeva and their four children in Switzerland for protection while Russian forces invade their neighbour, she was unexpectedly spotted at a junior rhythmic gymnastics rehearsal in Moscow in late April. In the pictures, she was seen wearing a wedding ring, sparking rumours that she married Putin while in hiding.

Alina Kabaeva is an Olympic world champion in rhythmic gymnastics and the rumoured partner of Russian president Vladimir Putin. Photo: AFP

Here’s what you need to know about Kabaeva, Putin’s alleged girlfriend.

1. She was once called Russia’s most flexible woman

Russia’s Alina Kabaeva performs in the rhythmic gymnastics women’s individual all-around qualification at the Olympic Games, in Sydney, in 2000. Photo: Reuters

Known for revolutionising rhythmic gymnastics with her rare skills, including the back scale pivot, she won the European Championships in 1998 at age 15 and was the youngest member on the Russian team. The following year, she won the world title in Osaka, becoming the European Champion for the second consecutive time.

At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the then 17-year-old took home a bronze. At the 2001 World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships and Goodwill Games, she won golds but lost her medals when she was tested positive for furosemide (a banned diuretic found in a counterfeit medicine she was taking for premenstrual syndrome).

However, she bounced back and won four world titles in 2003, as well as the European Championship in 2004 and the 2004 Athens Olympics gold before announcing her retirement.