A Russian synchronised swimming champion who carried the flag at the London Olympics has become the most prominent athlete to flee the country since the start of the war, writes Nataliya Vasilyeva, the Daily Telegraph's Russia correspondent.
Anastasia Davydova, a 13-times world champion who won Olympic gold in Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008 who was feted by Vladimir Putin, said in a letter that she had left the country for good as hundreds of thousands fled military draft.
The departure of the 39-year old athlete, who also serves as secretary general of Russia's Olympic Committee, was reported by state-controlled Match TV. Several Russian lawmakers immediately condemned her as a traitor.
The day after the announcement of the country's mobilisation of an estimated 300,000 troops, the President of the Russian Olympic Committee, former fencer Stanislav Pozdnyakov, was asked about the impact of such a decision on Russian athletes.
![Anastasia Davydova escorts Vladimir Putin on a tour around her Olympic Synchronised Olympic Centre in 2019. Photo / Getty](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/CCXNSMVJYJKZSILPL4UFRQR3KU.jpg?auth=bfdc34f929530c2c4789ee5b11c1603d70fbc02df6758f41238e393fa1ba030a&width=16&height=16&quality=70&smart=true)