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Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak may face disciplinary consequences for wearing a pro-Russian invasion symbol at the Apparatus World Cup in Doha, Qatar.
20-year-old Kuliak, who won the bronze medal, accepted his award with a "Z" symbol taped to his uniform.
The Russian army has been using the "Z" symbol to identify their tanks during the on-going invasion of Ukraine.
Kuliak proudly displayed the symbol next to his opponent, Ukrainian athlete Kovtun Illia. Illia took home the gold medal.
The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) has reportedly started disciplinary proceedings against Kuliak for his "shocking behavior."
Twitter users were shocked by Kuliak's lack of sportsmanship and called for him to be disciplined.
My admiration for the strength of Ukrainian people grows daily. How Kovtun Illia does not turn around and throat punch this guy is beyond me. His strength and the strength of his people is beyond me. God bless Ukraine! https://twitter.com/rwesthead/status/1500169855198281729\u00a0\u2026— Amy Heidbreder (@Amy Heidbreder) 1646688452
The dude should be sanctioned by whatever gymnastics governing body there is.https://twitter.com/rwesthead/status/1500169855198281729\u00a0\u2026— Aiden, Varangian arc \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Aiden, Varangian arc \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1646679824
What gets me is, he\u2019s stood next to his Ukrainian opponenthttps://twitter.com/rwesthead/status/1500169855198281729\u00a0\u2026— Dale Bennett (@Dale Bennett) 1646680424
I don't even know what else to say, but what a bozo https://twitter.com/rwesthead/status/1500169855198281729\u00a0\u2026— Spartan Lion (@Spartan Lion) 1646680784
Any Russian athlete with a Z symbol should be automatically disqualifiedhttps://twitter.com/rwesthead/status/1500169855198281729\u00a0\u2026— (((Matt Boxer)))#\u0421\u043b\u0430\u0432\u0430\u0423\u043a\u0440\u0430\u0457\u043d\u0456! \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83e\udd41\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@(((Matt Boxer)))#\u0421\u043b\u0430\u0432\u0430\u0423\u043a\u0440\u0430\u0457\u043d\u0456! \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83e\udd41\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1646676070
unreal. he needs to be stripped of his medal. and the fact that his coach said \u201cHe did everything right\u201d is sick. \n#gymnastics #DohaGym2022 #Doha #worldCup #FIG @gymnasticshttps://twitter.com/rwesthead/status/1500169855198281729\u00a0\u2026— flutie's girl (@flutie's girl) 1646609696
I've been watching elite gymnastics now for over 30 years. World Cups, Worlds, Olympics, Euros, etc. I can't recall seeing anything quite like what happened in Doha. The happy ending though, is that Illia Kovtun from #Ukraine beat him in the PB final. Pic were awkward though...pic.twitter.com/RN6WZGgoIZ— purplecanstan\u262e\ufe0f\ud83c\udf39\ud83d\udcf7 (@purplecanstan\u262e\ufe0f\ud83c\udf39\ud83d\udcf7) 1646586622
Commenters were glad Kuliak's Ukrainian rival took home the first place gold.
lmao nothing shows true solidarity with Russia than taking the bronze L against Ukraine\u2019s Gold Whttps://twitter.com/rwesthead/status/1500169855198281729\u00a0\u2026— Jared \ud83c\udf39 (@Jared \ud83c\udf39) 1646679669
Gosh.. How pathetic. If you can't get gold you compensate with provocations. #DohaGym2022https://twitter.com/rwesthead/status/1500169855198281729\u00a0\u2026— Betii (@Betii) 1646651974
Poetic Justice that the Ukranian got Goldhttps://twitter.com/rwesthead/status/1500169855198281729\u00a0\u2026— Shay \ud83c\udf39\ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf0\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Shay \ud83c\udf39\ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf0\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1646583880
One user questioned why Russian athletes were allowed to compete at all.
@WorldAthletics you seem to be allowing Russian competitors, and allowing those Russian competitors to display political slogans.\n\nHow is this possible?\n\nWhat sort of competition are you running?\n\nYou allowed the Ukrainian athlete to see this political slogan.\n\nStop it NOW.— Alison Middleton \ud83c\udf3b\ud83c\udf3b (@Alison Middleton \ud83c\udf3b\ud83c\udf3b) 1646589891
To be clear, not every citizen of a country is in agreement with the actions of their leadership.
Some Twitter users suggested Kuliak may have been forced to wear the symbol.
I\u2019m sure he didn\u2019t have a choice, I bet the Russian team said here are the uniforms, provided by Putin, and you will wear them. He just won a bronze medal and doesn\u2019t look very happy.— Matthew Paeth (@Matthew Paeth) 1646591666
Look, I #StandingWithUkraine 100% - but talking about removing this kid's medal because he has national pride? You don't know what information he's being fed; USA athletes support their troops and wear insignia to do so on a regular basis (Ribbons, notes on shoes, WHATEVER)https://twitter.com/rwesthead/status/1500169855198281729\u00a0\u2026— Matt Newmark (@Matt Newmark) 1646695280
While we don't know Kuliak's true beliefs or what led to the symbol being on his chest during the medal ceremony, the political expression went against FIG's rules, according to CNN.
As of Monday, March 7, FIG has also decided to ban all Russian and Belarusian gymnasts from future FIG-sanctioned competitions.
The decision comes after the International Olympic Committee recommended the ban.