Russian swimmer Evgeny Rylov banned for 9 months over Putin pro-war rally; Kremlin unhappy

Evgeny Rylov stood on stage with medalists from other Olympic sports at the event last month and wore a jacket with a “Z” on the chest.

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Weeks after appearing at a rally in support of Russian President Vladimir Putin over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, Russian Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer Evgeny Rylov has been banned from the sport for nine months.

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The 25-year-old, who clinched gold in 100 and 200 metres backstroke events at last year's Tokyo Olympics, was among eight athletes identified at last month's pro-war rally and sported the letter 'Z' on his outfit.

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The 'Z", a letter that does not exist in the Cyrillic Russian alphabet, has been seen daubed on Russian tanks and vehicles in Ukraine and has come to symbolise support for the invasion. Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak too, had stirred a massive public outrage last month after sporting a pro-war 'Z' symbol on his shirt while sharing the podium with Ukrainian rival Illia Kovtun, the gold medallist at the Gymnastics World Cup event in Doha. Read more

A brief statement from swimming's world governing body, FINA, stated it "acknowledged" an earlier, as-yet-unpublished ruling from a disciplinary panel to ban the Russian swimmer "following Rylov's attendance and conduct at an event held at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow."

Rylov's ban began on Wednesday and covers any international competition. The effect on the swimmer is likely to be mostly symbolic since FINA also extended its decision to exclude competitors from Russia and its ally Belarus from all international events for the remainder of 2022.

"The Bureau also confirmed its position that Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials will not be invited to any FINA event through the end of 2022," FINA added. FINA's remit covers a range of aquatic sports, including swimming, diving, water polo and artistic swimming.

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Meanwhile, the Kremlin on Friday condemned the nine-month suspension of their Olympic champion. "We believe this is absolutely contrary to the ideas of sport," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "When the strongest (competitors) lose the opportunity to participate, this ultimately harms international federations and international competitions," he added.