When Russian President Vladimir Putin got divorced from Lyudmila Shkrebneva in 2013, Alina Kabaeva became the most talked about personality in Russia.
Already a success in her own right through a very successful gymnastics career, it was rumoured – and has been for more of the next 10 years – that the 40-year-old is the long-term lover of Putin. But who is the woman once described as “full of sex”, and why is she known as the “uncrowned Queen of Russia”?
Born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan – then part of the Soviet Union – she encountered fame from an early age thanks to her professional footballer father Marat, who played for several to Uzbek clubs as a striker, and is now the current scout coach for Russian Premier League side Rubin Kazan. Kabaeva's mother Lyubov has no notoriety at all, other than being the mother of Alina which saw her added to the UK's Russian sanctions list earlier this year.
READ MORE: Putin's sex-mad gymnast lover under 'house arrest' as 'uncrowned queen' has no power
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Kabaeva started her gymnastics journey at the age of three, representing Kazakhstan first of all, before moving to Moscow as a teenager where her training continued under feared Russian coach Irina Viner. Her first rhythmic gymnastics medal came at the age of 15, winning gold at the 1998 European Championships in Portugal, before retaining the title a year later.
She won her first world title in 1999, at the World Championships in Osaka, Japan, and also bagged five all-around titles at the European Champions before the 2000 Sydney Olympics. And it was at that event that she was pushed into the forefront of world athletics, but not in the way she wanted.
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Inside Putin's £40m super yacht where Vlad's gymnast lover could be under 'house arrest'
She was predicted to win ground in the all-around, but dropped her hoop, ran outside the competition area mid-flow to get it, and ended up just about bagging a bronze instead. Her career was then mired in controversy, after testing positive for banned substance furosemide in 2001 – this saw her, and a teammate, stripped of any medals she won at the 2001 Goodwill Games in Brisbane, Australia.
She, and her coach, blamed it on a food supplement, but she was banned for the 2002 European Championships. To cut a long story short, she competed at the 2003 World Championships in Budapest and became a world champion once again, going on to win gold at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece as she competed in the all-around for rhythmic gymnastics.
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Putin's sex-mad gymnast lover 'disappeared' as 'punishment for being Kremlin source'
She retired months later . . . before un-retiring and winning several more medals over the next few years before she jacked in the sport for good and went into politics. In 2005 – allegedly some time after she formed a relationship with Putin – she became a member of Russia's Public Chamber, and went on to become a Russian MP for Nizhnekamsk from 2007 to 2014, when she went on to resign from that role and become a propaganda pushed as a director for Russia's National Media Group.
Sevearal rumours surround her and Putin, including that they were engaged in 2008, which the Kremlin denied. It is also claimed that she has given birth to at least three of his children, which the Kremlin denies. She recently went missing after appearing at a gymnastics competition in Sochi, with Professor Anthony Glees telling the Daily Star that she was apparently being punished.
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Putin's sex-mad gymnast lover could be 'Kremlin source of death rumours,' claims expert
He said: “What first attracted gorgeous Alina to a thin, poker faced killer? Perhaps that he was president of Russia and perhaps one of the richest men in the world? Now the woman (quite reasonably) being described as being 'full of sex' disappeared from view, last seen at Putin's Summer Palace at Valdai. What could it mean? We can only speculate.
“She's now 40 and perhaps putting on a bit of weight. Fitness freak Putin may have tired of her. but it could be that she was the source of the stories that were circulating the West that Putin was seriously ill and might even be dead.
“If so, and Putin still lives, she'll be off to the salt mines to warn her to keep her mouth shut in future. However, it might be a further indication that all is not well with Putin.”
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