MOSCOW, March 8 Russian gymnast Ivan Kulyak announced that he had come to the ceremony awards at the World Cup in Doha with the letter Z on his chest in response to the defiant behavior of the representatives of the Ukrainian national team. On Saturday in Doha, Kulyak won a bronze medal in exercises on parallel bars. The Russian came to the awards ceremony with the letter Z on his uniform, which became an unofficial symbol of support for the special operation in Ukraine.
"The idea came about after we saw how Ukrainians communicate with us. They behaved very ugly, during the competition they shouted "Glory to Ukraine". But most of all, it was frustrating that they asked to be removed from the competition, although we did nothing wrong to anyone. We came to perform, but in the end they didn’t know until the last whether we would be allowed to the finals", Kulyak said in an interview with RT.
On Sunday, the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) announced that it would open a disciplinary case against Kulyak. The head of the Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federation (FSGR), Vasily Titov, said that the organization would do everything possible to support the athlete. Russian athletes performed at the World Cup stage in a neutral status after the FIG banned Russian and Belarusian athletes due to the situation in Ukraine, as well as officials, including judges, to take part in competitions under the auspices of the FIG.