Pantel Kolodiy's 23-year-old Ukrainian gymnast will no longer be for the national team of Ukraine, but for the United States team. According to the Executive Committee of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG), the athlete officially submitted a change in sports citizenship, and the decision will come into force in May 2026.
Kolodiy is one of the leading representatives of Ukrainian men's gymnastics in recent years. He spoke for the national team at the championships of Europe and the world, participated in the Universiade, as well as in the Cups of the World Call.
However, it has recently become known that Panteley planned to participate in American qualification competitions, in particular in the national selection of the US Championship. His application was rejected because the competition was opened only to US citizens. After that, he officially initiated the process of changing sports citizenship.
This is not the first such case in the last period. Earlier, another leading Ukrainian gymnast - Ilya Kovtun - reported about the desire to change citizenship. He applied for Croatian citizenship.
Both Kolodiy and Kovtun are athletes who could be the basis of Ukraine's national team in the nearest international competitions, in particular at the World Cups and the Olympiad. The loss of them can significantly weaken the national team.
At the same time, in the US and Croatia, these athletes will receive much better material, coaching and infrastructure support than Ukrainian sports institutions can allow today.
