Russian gymnast who wore ‘symbol of invasion’ on chest in ‘another disrespectful act’
A 20-year-old gymnast who wore a pro-Putin symbol while competing against Ukrainian athletes has shown his continued support for the Russian war effort in an Instagram video.
Ivan Kuliak shocked competitors earlier this year when he wore the ‘Z’ – a pro-invasion symbol – on his chest, while competing at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Qatar. Now a video posted on Instagram shows Kuliak training before pointing to his chest, where he wore the ‘Z’ symbol in competition, and then raising a fist signifying war.
The video was posted on the @karelian_gymnastics_team account before Kuliak posted the video on his Instagram story with a fist, winking and laughing emoji.
Ironically when Kuliak wore the ‘Z’ on his clothing at the World Cup he finished third in the parallel bars beaten by Ukranian Kovtun Illia, who won gold.
The ‘Z’ morphed into a symbol of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and pro-Putin supporters have been wearing it on their clothes and pro-invasion demonstrators have been waving flags bearing the letter.
It stands for ‘Za pobedy’, which means ‘For the victory’, and has been plastered all over Russian tanks invading Ukraine.
Russian and Belarusian athletes have faced being banned from sporting events since the war in Ukraine began. The All England Club decided to ban Russian and Belarusian competitors from competing at Wimbledon this summer to avoid providing any propaganda for Vladimir Putin.
The ban included the then men’s world number two Daniil Medvedev of Russia and women’s world number four at the time Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus.
However, that did not prevent Russian resident Elena Rybakina becoming the youngest Wimbledon champion since 2011, while representing Kazakhstan after being promised more funding.
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