Russian Olympic Champion Says Racist Obama Photo Was Work Of A Hacker When It Really Probably Wasn't

Irina Rodnina, a Soviet figure skating legend who lit the Olympic flame in Sochi, tries to distance herself from a controversial tweet. That defense worked so well for Anthony Weiner.

In September, Russian ex-Olympian figure skater and pro-Putin parliamentarian Irina Rodnina tweeted this doctored, blatantly racist photo of Barack and Michelle Obama.

After a flurry of abuse on Russian Twitter, Rodnina claimed she had been "sent the picture from the U.S." and wrote at the time: "Freedom of speech is freedom! Answer for your own complexes yourself!" She then deleted the tweets.

U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul condemned her tweet, but the controversy quickly died down in Russia, where casual racism is widespread.

.@IRodnina A wise quote from Thomas Jefferson: "Bigotry is the disease of ignorance." http://t.co/Zj29SJuVhq

.@Sapronovas thank you. Outrageous behavior, which only brings shame to her parliament and country

On Friday, however, the incident caught the attention of the wider public after Rodnina lit the Olympic torch to open the Winter Games in Sochi.

Rodnina finally apologized on Monday...

I respect the Obama family and apologize for not clearly stating earlier that I don't support the tweeted photo or racism in any form. (1/2)

...and employed the "I was hacked" defense previously used by former congressman and sexting scandal star Anthony Weiner.

My account was hacked and I should have shown better judgement in my initial response and handling of the event. (2/2)

Two days earlier, however, Rodnina's daughter, HuffPost Live host Alyona Minkovski, responded to "Twitter hate" by implying the tweet was real.

My mother is neither a racist nor a homophobe. I think the tweet was extremely insensitive, and we've addressed it as a family. (1/2)

That doesn't change the fact that she's a great mother and watching last night I was proud. (2/2)

Minkovski, a former host on Kremlin propaganda channel RT, also immediately retweeted her mother's apology tweets, which were written in a style more reminiscent of Alyona's Twitter feed than her mother's.

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