TG Saar, a German gymnastics club, has announced cutting ties with Russian gymnast Nikita Nagornyy over his Russia-Ukraine war stance in a...
TG Saar, a German gymnastics club, has announced cutting ties with Russian gymnast Nikita Nagornyy over his Russia-Ukraine war stance in a statement published on their website.
"TG Saar is parting ways with Nikita Nagornyy with immediate effect. The 25-year-old Russian, who started for the Saarlanders last season, is no longer on the entry list for the 2022 season this year. Nagornyy's recent statements on social media and the press in connection with the Russian invasion in the Ukraine were now the reason for the board of TG Saar to end the cooperation prematurely and to refrain from further operations. The TG Saar expressly distances itself from the violent attacks in the Ukraine and does not tolerate any trivialization or support of this war of aggression.
We would like to thank Nikita for his commitment and achievements over the past few years and wish him all the best for the future," the statement said according to Google Translate.
Nagornyy has been publicly supporting his country's full scale invasion of Ukraine, via social media.
The Olympic Tokyo champion is a member of the National Guard of Russia, the internal military force of the Russian Federation.
Since December 2020, he has been the head of the Young Army Cadets National Movement, which aims at fostering “patriotic youth”.
A day after the Ukrainian invasion, he shared a post from the organization about their work with children from Ukraine's separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
He has also offered his fans to forward their gifts to the Russian soldiers, who are part of the military invasion of Ukraine.
Nagornyy has as well defended his teammate Ivan Kuliak, who wore the Russian pro war symbol 'Z' while sharing the podium with Ukrainian gymnast and gold medalist Illia Kovtun.
In addition to his Olympic gold medal, the Russian athlete is a World and two-time European all around champion.
Photo: kremlin.ru
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