Olympian Karolina Sevastyanova hits out after Conor McGregor photo criticism

The Olympic gold medallist turned model pictured cosying up to Conor McGregor has hit back at suggestions she got a little too close.

Olympic gold medallist Karolina Sevastyanova has hit back at claims she got a little too close to UFC star Conor McGregor when she shared a snap of the duo on Instagram.

The 25-year-old posted a picture of her and the Notorious hugging to her 417,000 followers last week, though she didn’t reveal the location of where they bumped into each other,The Sun reports.

Some fans weren’t pleased with the Russian gymnast — who scooped gold in the group event at the 2012 London Games.

Supporters of McGregor’s UFC rival Khabib Nurmagomedov criticised the now-retired athlete for posing with the Irishman, while others commented on how McGregor, married with kids, had his arm around Sevastyanova’s waist.

It was the suggestion she was getting a little too cosy with McGregor that caused a reaction from Sevastyanova, who took to her Instagram stories to set things straight.

“Guys, stop asking me these questions!” she said.

“I approached him with my man, and he was with his wife.”

After claiming gold in London and having already dominated the European Championships — winning individual and group events — Sevastyanova retired from competitive gymnastics at age 17, and went on to study at Michigan State University in America.

In 2015, she appeared on the cover of Maxim magazine, and with more than 400,000 Instagram followers, her public profile — and her modelling career — continues to grow.

It is likely she bumped into McGregor in Monaco, where Sevastyanova is based, and where the 32-year-old was recently on holiday with his wife Dee Devlin and their two children.

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The fighter and his partner also posed for a picture alongside Charlene, Princess of Monaco and her husband Prince Albert II.

Despite announcing his third retirement in four years, McGregor has hinted he could be set to return to the Octagon.

This article first appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission