Ukraine's Oleg Verniaiev threw shade at Ivan Kuliak, the Russian gymnast who wore the Russian pro war symbol 'Z' while competing...
Ukraine's Oleg Verniaiev threw shade at Ivan Kuliak, the Russian gymnast who wore the Russian pro war symbol 'Z' while competing at the 2022 Doha World cup earlier this month.
"Any professional athlete will never put on other people's medals, for some this is superstition, for some conscience will not allow it. But here is a completely different story. Please tell me, this guy on what projectile won the medal ?? I must have been very busy and don't remember it," Verniaiev wrote in an Instagram post that featured Kuliak wearing a Rio Olympic gold medal at the Moscow rally last week.
Kuliak has never competed at the Olympics, let alone won an Olympic gold medal. The Doha World Cup was his first major international competition as a senior gymnast.
The Ukrainian gymnast posted a photo to his Instagram Stories of his medal collection including the Olympic gold he won in Rio on the parallel bars.
Turns out you don't need to train for 15 years and more to get your Olympic gold medal anymore," he captioned it.
Verniaiev previously spoke out against the Russian gymnast.
Kuliak was hailed as a hero for showing his support for his country's invasion of Ukraine in Doha.
The Russian athlete continued to wear the letter Z on his chest during the podium ceremony which he shared with Ukrainian gymnast and gold medalist Illia Kovtun.
The 20 year old gymnast is set to face disciplinary hearing between March 28 and April 1 for his shocking behavior.
Kuliak, who was heavily defended by the Russian gymnastics community, attended the Moscow rally where Russian president Vladimir Putin justified the invasion of Ukraine and promised that all the Kremlin’s aims would be achieved.
Among the attendees were Tokyo Olympic gold medalists Vladislava Urazova and Viktoria Listunova.
Photo: Silvia Vatteroni
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