Ivan Kuliak under investigation for wearing symbol of Russian invasion at Doha World Cup
Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak is under investigation by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) after he taped the letter “Z” over the Russian Gymnastics Federation (RGF) logo at the Doha World Cup.
The “Z” is considered the symbol of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. The letter is being displayed on Russian vehicles in Ukraine. It is being interpreted as meaning “Za pobedy,” meaning for victory or “Zapad,” meaning west.
Many Russians are putting the “Z” on their cars or taking pictures forming the letters in various ways to show their support of the invasion. Russian military are also said to be making Z letters out of the badges of fallen Ukrainian soldiers.
(All photos via @kamilkazani/Twitter.)
Russian gymnasts competing in Doha were doing so as neutral athletes and were required to cover any RGF logos.
Russian gymnasts were already competing as RGF through December 17, 2022 after the nation received a two-year ban from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in 2019 for its state-sponsored doping program.
In response to Kuliak’s actions during the men’s parallel bars final on March 5, the FIG released the following statement on March 6:
“The International Gymnastics Federation confirms that it will ask the Gymnastics Ethics Foundation to open disciplinary proceedings against male artistic gymnast Ivan Kuliak (RUS) following his shocking behavior at the Apparatus World Cup in Doha, Qatar.”
The statement and investigation come after many members of the gymnastics community demanded the FIG take action against Kuliak, 20, who wore the symbol during competition and on the podium as the third-place finisher behind Ukraine’s Illia Kovtun and Milad Karimi (KAZ), who finished first and second, respectively.
Kuliak’s actions were not stopped by competition officials or Russian delegation members.
“You know, he didn’t ask us for advice,” said Valentina Rodionenko, the RGF head coach. “It was definitely his own initiative. Our guys are Russian patriots. I guess this thing [patriotism] affected him and he did not let us know. I think that he did everything right.”
On February 26, the FIG announced via its Executive Committee meeting notes that Russian and Belarusian flags and anthems were banned from FIG-sanctioned events until further notes. In addition, all FIG World Cup and World Challenge Cup events scheduled to take place in the two countries are cancelled, and no other FIG events will be allocated to Russia or Belarus until further notice. Any FIG events planned to take place in Russia and Belarus have been removed from the FIG calendar and will no longer be recognized by the FIG. No further events taking place in the countries will be sanctioned by the FIG until further notice.
After receiving backlash for not following the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) recommendation to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials, the FIG announced on March 4 that “given the massive escalation of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine… Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials, including judges, are not allowed to take part in FIG competitions or FIG-sanctioned competitions from 7 March 2022 until further notice.”
Russian athletes that were already in Doha were allowed to compete as neutral athletes.
Per the FIG, at this time “Russian and Belarusian nationals who are members of the FIG Executive Committee or of FIG technical committees are not affected by this measure when acting in their capacity as FIG Authorities.”
The 18-year-old Kovtun left Ukraine at the end of February to compete at the Cottbus World Cup, per Gymnovosti. He woke up on the first day of that competition to find out Ukraine had been invaded and Kiyv, where he lives and trains, was being bombed.
The Ukrainian delegation has not been able to return home due to the invasion.
In its February 26 decision, the FIG also stated it will “ask the FIG Foundation for Solidarity to allocate special aid to support Ukrainian athletes and other members of the Ukrainian Gymnastics Federation hit by the war.
