Russian tennis great-turned-golfer Evgeny Kafelkinov is eager to switch states in order to fulfill his Rio 2016 dream and add more Olympic silverware to his gold from Sydney 2000.
“The information that I received a good offer from the president of Superior Golf Club and will compete for Ukraine is correct. Most likely, I’ll do it,” Kafelnikov told R-Sport. “I have no special contacts with the Russian Golf Association. I think that incompetent people who don’t understand golf work there. So I’ll have to go to Ukraine, because I want to play and that’s the most important thing.”“We already have some preliminary agreements on financing my Olympic preparations with the Ukrainian side,” the 38-year-old added.
Kafelnikov brought Russia the men’s singles tennis gold at the Sydney Olympics, beating Tommy Haas of Germany in the final.
The former World No.1 quit the court in 2003 and turned to golf, becoming Russian champion in 2011.
The Rio de Janeiro Games will see golf make its first Olympic appearance since 1904.