Russian Olympic swimming champion Evgeny Rylov has been banned from the sport for his performance at the Putin rally
Russian Olympic swimming champion Evgeny Rylov has been banned from the sport for nine months for appearing at a rally in support of President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Rylov shared the stage with medalists from other Olympic sports last month and wore a jacket with a “Z” across the chest. The letter is not part of the Russian alphabet, but became a symbol of support for Russian troops after being used as a marking on Russian armored vehicles operating in Ukraine.
FINA, the world swimming governing body, said in a brief statement on Thursday that it “acknowledged an earlier, as yet unpublished, decision by a disciplinary committee” to ban Rylov, “following Mr Rylov’s participation and conduct at an event at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.”
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Rylov was the star of the Russian swimming team at the Tokyo Olympics last year with two gold medals.
His suspension began on Wednesday and applies to all international competitions. The impact on Rylov is likely to be largely symbolic, as FINA also extended its decision to ban competitors from Russia and its ally Belarus from all international events for the remainder of 2022.
FINA previously excluded Russia and Belarus from the World Championships in Hungary and in June and July, but left them free to compete in other events. At the time, FINA said Russia was planning to boycott all international events anyway, which Russia denied. This position has now been clarified.
“The Governing Board also confirmed its position that Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials will not be invited to any FINA event until the end of 2022,” FINA said on Thursday. FINA’s remit covers a range of water sports, including swimming, diving, water polo and artistic swimming.
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