Alex Ovechkin did a long interview with Tina Kandelaki of Russian Television International on Thursday. Ovechkin addressed a variety of topics including how he’d like to wind down his hockey career and what it’s like knowing two of the most powerful people in the world.
Ovechkin also revealed during the chat that his family has not been spared of the novel coronavirus. Ovi’s mom, Tatyana Ovechkina, contracted COVID-19.
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Ovi divulged the news after being asked if his mom spends more time taking care of the kids. Tatyana is a two-time, gold medal-winning Olympic basketball player. Ovi wears number eight because of her.
“No, she has not taken the grandma role,” Ovechkin said as translated by Igor Kleyner. “She loves her grandkids very much, Ilya and Sergei. Every time she asks ‘show a video’ (of the kids). But that’s all because of the pandemic. Otherwise, she would have been with us more often. She did get it, by the way. Moderate condition, but she did get sick.”
The interviewer then asked Ovechkin if he did himself.
“I am fine,” Ovechkin replied.
He added that it “turns out I have antibodies” for COVID-19 and is unsure how long they’d last. This means Ovechkin either contracted the virus too with no symptoms or his test was a false positive.
During her questioning, Kandelaki, the interviewer, encouraged viewers to take a Russian vaccine. The country has a COVID-19 vaccine that received approval before phase 3 human trials had begun, according to CNN. President Putin first announced the vaccine, Sputnik-V, in August.
According to Johns Hopkins University, Russia has had the fourth-most cases of coronavirus in the world and ranks 12th overall in deaths. The KHL, Russia’s top-tier hockey league, recently had a COVID outbreak during the opening months of the season.
This story has been updated since publication.
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