Ksenia Afanasyeva is retiring because of her disease!

Ksenia Afanasyeva, a two-time Olympian, is going to retire because of a kidney disease.

The world and European champion is hospitalized with kidney stones and is facing weeks of recovery, -said team coach Valentina Rodionenko, ruining any chances of Afanasyeva competing in a third Olympic Games.

At the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing Ksenia Afanasyeva took the fourth place being a part of the Russian team. She helped to lead Russia to its first world team title two years later in Rotterdam, and in 2011 became world champion on floor exercise. She was the captain of Russia's team that won the silver at the 2012 Olympics in London. She won floor exercise at both the 2013 and 2015 European championships, and won vault and floor at the 2013 University Games.

Afanasyeva missed the 2013 and 2014 World Championships because of her multiple surgeries.  She returned to the world championships in 2015 and won a silver medal on floor exercise.

She competed on vault only at this spring's European championships in Bern, where she helped Russia to win the team title and captured the individual bronze medal on vault.

Afanasyeva, who turns 25 in September, traveled to Germany in June to have scar tissue removed. She and Russia's coaches had hoped she would be able to return in time to compete at the Olympic Games, which begin on August 5.

The Russian delegation plans to depart for Brazil on Sunday. Yevgenia Shelgunova has moved into the alternate position for Russia in place of Afanasyeva, with Natalia Kapitanova as the second alternate.

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