A hard blow to Russian Olympic champion Yevgeny Rilov, who was suspended for nine months from any competition, after attending a rally held by Russian President Vladimir Putin last month.
Recall, Rilov, who won two gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics last year in the 100m and 200m backstroke, was seen at a rally with the letter "Z" on his outfit - the symbol associated with Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The statement from the World Swimming Association (FINA) stated: "The FINA Bureau has convened and recognized the decision of the FINA Disciplinary Committee to suspend Yevgeny Rilov (RUS) from all competitions and activities organized or approved by FINA, including any international competition in the FINA World Marine Calendar, for a period of "Nine months, following Mr. Rilov's presence and conduct at an event held at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on March 8, 2022. Mr. Rilov's suspension took effect on April 20, 2022."
Two-time Olympic swimming champion Evgeny #Rylov was suspended for 9 months from competitions under the auspices of the International Swimming Federation.
The reason for this is his attendance at the pro-Putin concert in #Luzhniki.
pic.twitter.com/ZHOH0F7u40
- NEXTA (@nexta_tv) April 22, 2022
This is not the only punishment the swimmer received, when a week after the incident, Rilov lost his sponsorship deal with swimwear maker Speedo.
Currently, it has not yet been announced what happened to other athletes who participated in the rally, including Olympic silver medalist in artistic gymnastics Dina Avrina who continues to train these days for another campaign but can not compete, due to the World Gymnastics Association banning athletes from Russia and Belarus.
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