Days after the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) opened an investigation into the 20-year-old athlete Ivan Kuliak for “scandalous behavior” after exhibiting the ‘Z’ at the World Gymnastics World Cup What do Russian tanks look like? The signalman broke his silence.
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Through his ‘Telegram’ account, as reported by various European media, Kuliak shared the reasons behind his gesture.
Kuliak’s reasons
“They told us to cover the (Russian) flag and I did. They had already banned everything that could be exhibited and I just wanted to show where I’m from, my origins, that’s all. I’m not afraid of consequences and I don’t want to hurt anyone. The ‘Z’, in our country, means ‘For victory’, ‘For peace’. And the Ukrainian athletes treat us badly, just seeing it they would believe”, was the first thing Kuliak said on the messaging platform.
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The ‘Z’ displayed by the young athlete, as reported by the Efe agency, “appears in Ukraine with the aim of distinguishing Russian military units from Ukrainian ones, which use very similar equipment.” However, in the context of the tension in Ukraine, the political use of this symbol has been seen as a ‘warlike gesture’.
In this regard, Kuliak himself stated in his short message that the Ukrainian rivals, during the competition, would have also made expressions of that tint:
“Ukrainian gymnasts started this whole political movement. It was in response to that that I did what I did. They were on the podium shouting ‘Glory to Ukraine’ and, according to the competition regulations, that is not allowed.. But nobody said anything about it to them…”, added the young Russian, bronze in parallel bars in said competition.
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A Russian athlete stood on the podium with a symbol of the invasion of Ukraine, at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup
Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak finished third on parallel bars and appeared on the podium with a “Z”. Next to him was the winner – the Ukrainian Illia Kovtun. pic.twitter.com/SXTRPFVNGs
– Apolitical 🇺🇦 (@ApoliticalX) March 6, 2022
This Monday, the International Federation of Gymnastics (FIG) opened a file on gymnast Ivan Kuliak for his behavior. To the date, the only measure that the entity has taken has been to suspend, until further notice, athletes, coaches and judges from Russia and Belarus from all their competitions.
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