Eleonora Romanova (born August 17, 1998) is a former Ukrainian individual rhythmic gymnast. She was the 2013 National Junior Champion of Ukraine and dramatically became a Russian citizen in September 2016. Because there is Roman in her name, everyone loves to call her Romantic Baby.
In 2014, Romanova began to compete in various competitions. At the 2014 Holland Grand Prix International Senior Division, with a total score of 7 points, it reached the final. She is fourth in the National Championships in Ukraine, behind Anastasia Malmina. From 22 to 28 September of the same year, Romanova represented Ukraine at the 2014 World Championships and won the bronze medal. In October of the same year, Romanova represented the Derivina School Club in Tokyo to participate in the 2014 Aeon Cup in Japan. In 2015 she was ranked fifth in the world. At the 2015 Valentine Cup, she won the bronze medal. After 2015, he missed many games due to a foot injury.
In February 2016, Romanova unexpectedly disappeared from the Delhi-Oujina Rhythmic Gymnastics School and the Ukrainian rhythmic gymnastics national team. Ukrainian media said her parents took her out of Ukraine to change her nationality for her to compete in the Russian Federation. Later in 2016, however, Romanova was confirmed to have obtained Russian citizenship. Ukraine has identified her as a "spy," and the Ukrainian team said it had spent $5 million to groom Romanova. But in fact, the girls of the Ukrainian team have to pay for air tickets at their own expense to go abroad to compete, and even the competition costumes have to spend their own money. The training ground of the Ukrainian team, even the carpet is broken. So this 5 million can only laugh generously.
The conflict between Ukraine and Russia has a long history, with Ukrainian high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchik winning the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics, excitedly hugging the champion Russian Olympic team Maria Rasitzkoni after the game, and celebrating with Russian athletes with a smile. It's normal for athletes to hug and greet each other after a game, but the Ukrainian athlete never dreamed that his normal celebrations would cause big trouble. Ukraine has been fiercely critical of Mahuchik's embrace of Russian athletes and has demanded punishment from the government. After receiving the situation, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine also clearly stated that it would call the athlete. This clearly goes against the theory that sport has no borders.
Romantic, as a Ukrainian, was changed to Russian by her parents. Because the Ukrainian side refused to let the romantic baby change her nationality, it was not until her IDB documents expired in 2018 that she was able to represent Russia. At present, although Romantic Baby can compete as a Russian athlete, she is only a local team player and can no longer participate in international competitions.
Choosing Russia with greater support for better training conditions may be a helpless choice, but because of this behavior, the romantic baby can no longer participate in international competitions, and I think it is not worth it.