Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak stands on the podium with a ‘Z’ mark at the World Cup in Doha, Qatar

Doha Gymnastics World Cup

Ivan Kuliak.

Ivan Kuliak, who was banned from using the Russian flag, took an unexpected action while the World Cup of Gymnastics hosted by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) was being held in Doha, Qatar. He had the ‘Z’ sign, which means ‘support the invasion of Ukraine’, attached to the uniform instead of the national flag.

BBCAccording to the report, the FIG banned the flags of the national teams of the two countries to boycott Russia and Belarus, which invaded Ukraine. There seemed to be no major problems until the match, but the problem erupted on the podium in the parallel bar section on the 6th local time. Russia’s Kuliak, who took 3rd place and won the bronze medal, appeared with a ‘Z’ on his chest, and stood calmly next to the 1st place Ukrainian player Ilya Kovtun.

Doha Gymnastics World Cup

Russia’s Ivan Kuliak stands side by side with Ukraine’s Kovtun.

Fox SportsAccording to the report, Kovtun shook hands with silver medalist Milad Karimi on the podium, but did not ask Kuliak for a handshake. The ‘Z’ symbol symbolizes ‘victory’ in Russia and is known to be attached to Russian tanks and vehicles that invaded Ukraine, or used by politicians in favor of war in Russia.

The FIG said on the 7th that “the Ethics Committee has requested a disciplinary procedure for Ivan Kuliak, a Russian player who has behaved shockingly.” Players, officials and referees from Russia and Belarus will be banned from participating in international competitions starting this week.

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Russian player Andrei Rublev wrote ‘No War Please’ on camera during a match on February 26th.

Upon hearing the news, Oleg Berniaev, a gold medalist at the 2016 Rio Olympics and a native of Ukraine, posted a picture of Kuliak on his Instagram, saying, “Don’t let Russians say that sports have nothing to do with politics.”

Kuliak is not the only athlete supporting the invasion of Ukraine. Russia’s Svetlana Korkina, who won the gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, also posted a photo of a ‘Z’ on her social media account, along with a photo of “A campaign for those who are not ashamed to be Russian. Let’s spread this.” An American Twitter user who heard the news expressed his feelings in a short post, “It’s disgusting.”

This is the opposite of Andrei Rublev, a Russian tennis star who impressed fans around the world by writing “Please stop the war” on the camera on February 26th.

Reporter Hyejun Moon: [e-mail]