ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Arkady Vyatchanin loves his country.
He just doesn’t want to represent Russia at the Olympics.
That stance has left the swimmer in legal limbo with the Rio Games less than five months away, the pawn in a political tug-of-war that again shows just how little the guys in charge actually care about the athletes.
“I guess I underestimated the burden that I’ll carry,” said Vyatchanin, who lives and trains in the United States and wants to swim for Serbia in what very well could be his last shot at the Olympics.