Ivan Kuliak wasn’t a very well known gymnast before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. After racking up domestic accolades as a junior elite athlete, he made headlines worldwide at the World Cup in early March, when the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) announced that Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials would be banned after the conclusion of ongoing competitions. Already stripped of his country’s flag and anthem, Kuliak opted to cover the emblem on his uniform with a white paper letter “Z”, appearing on the competition floor and the medal podium alongside Ukrainian athletes donning a symbol of the Russian army’s invasion. Overnight, Kuliak went from an unknown competitor to an international representation of Russia’s aggression.
