The stage of the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Doha was remembered by all the unexpected act of 20-year-old Ivan Kulyak.
For the first time in his career, the Russian competed at an adult international tournament and took third place in the parallel bars competition.
The victory in this form was won by the Ukrainian Ilya Kovtun.
The national athlete entered the awards ceremony in a uniform with the letter Z pasted on his chest. It has become a symbol of support for the special operation in Ukraine, since this sign is depicted on Russian military equipment.
The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) reacted negatively to the young man's act and announced that a disciplinary case would be opened against him.
The athlete's behavior was called "shocking."
At the same time, no one paid attention to the provocations by the Ukrainian delegation.
In turn, the president of the Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federation (FSGR), Vasily Titov, said that he would defend Kulyak.
“I don't think he wanted to make a special demonstration, but we will support him anyway.
I think they can be punished, they can be removed from participation.
But we were already removed, ”the R-Sport official quotes.
In an interview with RT, Ivan said that he did not regret his decision to come out with the letter Z, and explained why he did so.
Has media attention increased since the incident at the awards ceremony?
- Of course, I feel that it has appeared, but not strong.
I try not to attach much importance to what is happening around.
I don't feel any particular discomfort.
Everything is fine.
— How did you come up with the idea to put the letter Z on clothes?
- After we saw the behavior of Ukrainians at the competitions.
They communicated with us ugly, their behavior at some points was completely unacceptable.
So, during performances, they could afford to shout "Glory to Ukraine."
Or go out on the platform, wrapped in the national flag, while we were considered neutral athletes and because of this we felt uncomfortable.
Many different things happened.
But most of all, it was frustrating that they asked to remove us from the World Cup stage, although we did nothing wrong to anyone.
We came to perform, but in the end we didn’t know until the very end whether we would be allowed to the finals or not.
- Was there any aggression towards you?
- Personally, no one said anything to me and showed no aggression.
But in general, their behavior greatly escalated the situation.
- FIG announced that it would initiate an ethics commission investigation. Have you already talked about this?
No, no one has contacted me yet.
As you can see, it was not before.
- Do you regret what you did?
— Not at all.
If there was a second chance, and I would again have to choose whether to enter with the letter Z on my chest or not, I would do exactly the same.
- And yet why did you choose the letter Z?
- I saw it with our military and looked what this symbol means.
It turned out: "for victory" and "for peace."
I didn't wish anything bad on anyone.
I just showed my position.
As an athlete, I will always fight for victory and stand for peace.
Only and everything.
- In Doha, you performed at the adult level for the first time. Experienced anxiety?
— Yes, this is my first international tournament among adults.
Of course, the jitters were present, but not strong.
He knew exactly what he had to do.
He said to himself: "I can do everything, I can do everything."
So I didn't worry too much.
It's a shame that we no longer have the opportunity to continue to perform at the international level.
Hope everything gets better soon.
In the meantime, I am preparing for the Russian Championship, which will take place very soon - in three weeks.
What are your goals for the tournament?
- I try not to guess.
I just practice and do my thing.
After all, the most important thing is to show everything that you can do.
- Do you have a favorite look?
- Not.
I can do everything on every projectile, perform well.
But it works best on uneven bars, on which I won a medal in Doha.