VLADIMIR Putin’s Olympic lover sparked the fury of her gymnastics coach when she started dating the dictator, it has been claimed.

Alina Kabaeva , 42, is understood to have caught the eye of the then married Russian President while competing as a rhythmic gymnast.

She won gold at Athens in 2004 and became known as “Russia’s most flexible woman” before retiring with 18 World Championship medals.

Kabaeva even posed nude for a men’s magazine at the height of her success.

Putin, 72, has never confirmed the relationship nor reports they have two secret sons together .

But French journalist Celine Nony, author of Alina: Putin’s Secret Love, says her sources, including a relative, confirmed the romance began in 2006 - seven years before Putin announced his divorce from ex-wife Lyudmila.

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