Russian double Olympic fencing champion Sofia Pozdnyakova – daughter of Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) president Stanislav Pozdnyakov – is divorcing her husband after he moved to America and refused to return to Russia, according to reports.
Pozdnyakova, 25, married fellow fencer Konstantin Lokhanov, 23, in 2020 but the pair are set to split, Match TV reports.
The Russian channel quotes Pozdnyakova’s father as confirming the news, while appearing to accuse Lokhanov of running scared to the US, where he is said to have been for the past several months without informing the leadership at the Russian Fencing Federation (FFR).
Lokhanov is said to be planning to take up coaching and had asked Sofia to go with him, although she decided to remain in Russia and file for divorce.
“I confirm this information [about a divorce],” Stanislav Pozdnyakov told Match TV.
“I believe that her upbringing and love for the Motherland allowed Sofia not to share the sad fate of ‘frightened lovers of raspberry frappes and yellow scooters’.
“Family and close friends are providing her with all the necessary moral support,” added Pozdnyakov, who won four Olympic golds during his career.
His daughter followed in his footsteps at the Tokyo Olympic Games last summer, winning gold in the individual and team sabre events to add to her two world titles and a pair of European crowns.
Pozdnyakova had changed her name to Lokhanova upon marrying, and still has pictures alongside her partner on her social media channels – the last of which appears to be from December.
The Kazakh-born Lokhanov is a former multiple-time world junior champion and also competed at the Tokyo Games but returned without a medal.