Alex Ovechkin apparently dumped by Maria Kirilenko over Instagram photo
And now, your daily reminder about the perils of social media.
A photo posted by Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin led his fiancée, Russian tennis star Maria Kirilenko, to break off their engagement, according to reports on Russia's R-Sport website (note: link is in Russian).
The two had been dating for three years and got engaged in December 2012.
“I have decided to terminate the engagement,” Kirilenko told R-Sport. “I do not want to go into the details. I’ll say one thing: Our relationship is over, but I respect [Alex] as a person and athlete and I sincerely wish him continued athletic success. At this moment, I’m concentrating on getting prepared for my next tournament. Hopefully soon I'll make my fans happy with news not about my personal life, but my sports achievements.”
The (fairly innocuous) photo that supposedly sparked the breakup was posted by Ovechkin's buddy, Russian basketball pro Vitaly Fridzon, and showed Ovi with Russian gymnast Karolina Sevastianova. It was later reposted by Sevastianova, who apparently wasn't worried about offending anyone.
Ovi seems to be holding up pretty well but might be in need of a hug all the same.
Just make sure no one takes a photo.