Kaluga Governor Vladislav Shapsha Praises Ivan Kuliak, Who Recently Recieved A One Year Ban Over Wearing Russian Pro War Symbol Z To Competition

Kaluga Governor Vladislav Shapsha praised Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak, who has recently received a one year ban over wearing Russian pro wa...

Kaluga Governor Vladislav Shapsha praised Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak, who has recently received a one year ban over wearing Russian pro war symbol "Z" at the 2022 Doha World Cup.

"Your open position in support of our guys, which they really need now, inspires pride in all Russian athletes. This is a bold move. And he talks about a lot. The decision to disqualify is, in my opinion, absolutely unfair and biased. Only weak people can take revenge on young guys. The strong will always accept a sporting challenge. But in any case, and regardless of the results of the appeal, you are the winner: both as an athlete and as a person! I am grateful to you for your courage, and I am proud that we are countrymen," Shapsha said during a meeting with Kuliak and with Olga Korkach, director of Larisa Latynina's gymnastics school, according to Google Transalte.

The 20 year old gymnast, who remains unrepentant about his actions, told the governor that he will be taking part in the Russian Cup, which will be held in Kaluga in July.

Kuliak wore the symbol while performing on the parallel bars at the event final at the Doha cup last March, where he won a bronze medal.

He also wore it on the podium which he shared with Ukrainian gymnast and gold medalist Illia Kovtun.

Besides the one year ban, the Russian was disqualified from the Doha FIG Apparatus World Cup. He was also ordered to return the bronze medal and the prize money of CHF 500, and to pay a contribution of the costs of the proceedings in the sum of CHF 2,000.

Photo: Martin Rulsch, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0