Two-time Olympic medalist Arkady Vyatchanin has given up on his bid to swim at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro after the world governing body for swimming, FINA, denied his request to represent Serbia.
The 32-year-old Vyatchanin, who won a pair of bronze medals while swimming for Russia in the backstroke events at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, had a falling out with Russia's national federation over training and concerns about potential doping issues.
Now based in the United States, Vyatchanin did not compete at the last two world championships and hoped that switching his citizenship to Serbia would give him a chance to swim in his third Olympics.
But he recently received a letter from FINA saying he didn't comply with rules requiring him to live in his new country for a year.
Vyatchanin says it was not financially possible for him to live in Serbia because he relies mostly on prize money from events in the United States.
