Earlier today Aliya Mustafina announced through her Instagram account (in Russian) that she divorced Alexei Zaitsev a month ago. The couple met at a Russian hospital in November of 2015 while they were both recovering from injuries (Aliya had knee surgery).
At the time they were both chasing Olympic dreams and they both achieved them. Aliya went to Rio to win a second Olympic Bars Title while this past February Alexei participated at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games. Alexei is a bobsledder.
Once the Rio experience had passed and exactly one year after first meeting each other they were married in November of 2016. Then, in June of 2017, they welcomed their only child, daughter Alisa.
Their love story developed fast, maybe too fast, in less than two years from first meeting each other the couple was already married and parents to a baby daughter.
At interviews, Aliya had continuously declined to comment on her married life and in her Instagram account, there was not a single picture of Alexei, hinting trouble in her marriage. Naturally, speculations arose and finally today Aliya has addressed the matter personally and has asked not to bring up the subject again.
For the break up of her marriage, Aliya cites no specific reason, simply that Alexei wasn’t the right man for her. She emphasizes that they are separated in good terms with no animosity between them and says she’s grateful to her now former husband for their daughter.
UPDATE 1:
In May 2018 Farhat Mustafin, Aliya’s father commented on her divorce. He said he told her daughter she was rushing with the wedding, that they were still very young but that she is stubborn and wanted to have a baby.
Now Aliya has told him her love for him has passed, he sat with the couple to try and achieve a reconciliation but she didn’t accept it. He was asked if Alexei had been unfaithful to Aliya and he says he doesn’t know (the publication says, although without citing a source, that he was).
Farhat emphasized that young people tend to think that marriage is like being on holiday all the time but that they have to learn that marriage involves the hardships of everyday life and that they should think about that before starting a family.
Farhat stated that Aliya and Alexei started living apart 6 months ago (so approximately in November/December of 2017) but that Alexei visits baby Alisa often.
UPDATE 2:
In an interview in April of 2019, she stated she has a good relationship with Alexei but that he has to call with anticipation when he wants to visit baby Alisa. She also says that after living together she realized they were different, “incompatible characters”, and the differences just began to accumulate and that she felt relief after their divorce.
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