After Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak carried a symbol related to the invasion of Ukraine on the medal stand at the World Cup that ended yesterday (Sunday) in Doha, Qatar, all he stands next to is a Ukrainian gymnast, the storm refuses to calm down.
Whoever was there up close and saw the happening, is the bronze medalist from the world championships at the jumping table, the Israeli Andrei Medvedev who took part in the competition and did not like what he saw.
Medvedev told Israel Today: "I talked to my Ukrainian friends and everyone posted the case on their social networks after it happened, they did not see it coming before and do not think anyone else saw it, just saw it only clearly in the distribution of medals on the garment ".
How did they react to this?
"Everyone was in the market, I do not know a gymnast who did not condemn it. It is so low, really horrible. Glad it did not lead to physical violence, between him and the Ukrainian guy, because a lot of emotions are involved here. On the one hand their parents are in danger, their cities are bombed and what That they are going through now is horrible and terrible. "
"To see such a thing in front of one's eyes, that a Russian gymnast comes up with the symbol of the Ukrainian genocide - that's how you say it, that's what happens, it really is impossible to describe it."
Just saw that Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak wore 'Z' symbol at the World Cup in Doha yesterday to show his support for the war in Ukraine.
Can't think of a more disgusting thing to do and a better reason to ban Russia from sporting events altogether instead of current half measures pic.twitter.com/1rmV5UNQnR
- Tadeusz Giczan @ (@TadeuszGiczan) March 6, 2022
"When it was learned that the World Gymnastics Federation (FIG) was removing the Russians and Belarusians from all competitions, they responded on social media that it was a shame, that politics should be out of sport, and after that something like this happens that their athlete comes up with a Z symbol."
"The worst thing is that the wife of the coach of the Russian national team who was in Doha, said he did not get permission, but justified it and said it was a patriotic act - after such a thing, comes to Russian athletes who have kept them away and can not participate in competitions. Sporting. "
As you may recall, in the center of Kuliak's shirt was the letter "Z" prominently placed as he stood next to Cowton Ilya, the gold medal winner, while Kuliak himself, the former state champion in multi-event and ground, won the bronze medal in the same competition.
The "Z", a letter that does not exist in the Cyrillic Russian alphabet, was seen imprinted on Russian tanks and vehicles in Ukraine and came to symbolize support for the invasion.
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