"PUTIN GAL" - Alina Kabayeva on VOGUE January 2011

Who’s that girl? Alina Kabayeva, an ace Olympic gymnast with feline grace, or companion to Russian President Vladimir Putin, or both? Well, for now she’s going to be the cover girl of Vogue’s January edition, dazzling in her gold Balmain dress, standing with her hands on her hips, and staring down at us from the newsstands. Gossip mongers say Vladimir Putin left his wife in favour of the 27-year old beauty. Putin, of course, denies it vehemently. 

 

Alina’s credentials in sports are unquestionable. She was a bronze-winner at the rhythmic gymnastics at the Sydney Games in 2000, and bagged a gold medal four years later at Athens. Alina has 18 world championship and 25 European championship medals to her credit, before she retired from sports in 2008. The following year, she became the mother of a baby boy, who was born out of wedlock. Of course, everyone is guessing in a certain direction.

The romance story between the veteran politico and the gymnast broke in 2008, when a Russian newspaper carried reports of their engagement. It also added that a wedding would follow once Putin “relinquished” his position as the Russian president. The newspaper had quoted a professional wedding planner as its source. Subsequent denials from Putin followed when, in a Press conference, he said: “There is not a single word of truth.” Alina’s spokesman doggedly refused to discuss “this nonsense”.  

 

What keeps people guessing is that Putin has hardly been seen in public with wife Lyudmilla in recent years. The 58-year-old President attributes this to his heavy workload. Alina is also an MP with the President’s ruling party, United Russia, and gossip of their alleged affair has been doing the rounds among Russia's elite for more than 2 years now. Strangely enough, the newspaper that first published reports of this “relationship” shut down promptly afterwards, citing lack of funds.

 

Alina, meanwhile, is said to have been “fast-tracked” along the corridors of the Duma, the lower house of Parliament, to rise to a position of importance, thanks to Putin’s encouragement. While Vogue Russia’s new editor, Viktoria Davydova, sleeps uneasy with her bold choice of the new cover girl - Alina’s close friend coach Irina Viner - hinted that she knows the identity of her baby boy’s father. Alina will disclose his name when the time is right, she adds. Text: Babita Basu.