Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak, who wore the Russian pro war symbol 'Z' while competing at the 2022 Doha World Cup earlier this month, ...
Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak, who wore the Russian pro war symbol 'Z' while competing at the 2022 Doha World Cup earlier this month, has signed a sponsorship deal with Zasport, a Russian clothing manufacturer and official outfitter for the Russian Olympic team.
"We have been supporting Russian athletes for many years, we are always next to them and always for them. I am very glad that our brand has more and more friends. We will be together for sports and together we will overcome all difficulties!" Anastasia Zadorina, the founder of the company, wrote in a Telegram post according to Google Translate.
Zasport also signed with double Tokyo Olympic champion in Swimming Evgeny Rylov, who recently lost Speedo sponsorship after attending a rally hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin where the latter justified the invasion of Ukraine.
Kuliak was among the attendees. He was seen wearing a Rio Olympic gold medal, despite having never competed at the Olympics before.
The Doha World cup was his first and only major international competition as a senior gymnast.
The 20 year old gymnast is now facing disciplinary action over his behavior at the competition.
Kuliak, who has heavily stressed that he has no regrets over his actions, wore the Russian pro war symbol while standing beside Ukrainian gold medalist Illia Kovtun on the podium.
Kuliak received support from his native country. 2012 and 2016 Olympic vault medalist Maria Paseka and high profile Russian retired gymnast Alexei Nemov defended his actions.
While the Deputy of the Russian State Duma of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Svishchev, said that they will protect him.
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