Swimmer Evgeny Rylov banned by FINA for appearing at rally led by Putin

To optimise for archiving, the original image and related documents associated with this article have been removed.

Russian swimmer Evgeny Rylov has been banned by FINA for nine months after he attended a war rally led by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Rylov is a two-time Olympic champion who won the men's 100 metres and 200m backstroke titles at the Tokyo Games but will now be ineligible to compete until 19th January 2023. Due to the fact that FINA already confirmed Russian and Belarusian athletes will not be competing at events throughout 2022 Rylov is essentially banned for 19 extra days.

FINA launched the investigation into Rylov’s attendance as he was “bringing aquatic sports into disrepute.” Rylov’s sponsor Speedo also ended their sponsorship deal with the Olympic champion because of his support for the war in Ukraine.

Ukrainian swimmer Andriy Govorov said that seeing Rylov in attendance was “heart-breaking” as he considers him a close friend. Others in attendance at the rally included gymnast Ivan Kuliak who wore the “Z” mark on the podium at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Doha with other prominent Russian athletes from figure-skating and skiing also being present.

You may also like

View All

UCI introduces GPS tracking system for all riders following the tragic death of teen athlete

The Union Cycliste Internationale will use GPS trackers for all athletes at the Road World Championships in Kigali, Rwanda, from September 21-28, 2025, following the tragic death of Swiss teen rider Muriel Furrer

Read More

Australian Olympic gold medallist swimmer Kyle Chalmers rejects multi-million-dollar offer to join controversial Enhanced Games

27-year-old Australian Olympic champion Kyle Chalmers has declined a lucrative offer to compete in the 2026 Enhanced Games, a controversial event that permits performance-enhancing drug use

Read More

Triple gold medallist heptathlete Nafi Thiam in dispute with Belgian Athletics

Just days before the World Athletics Championships Tokyo25 heptathlon, triple gold medallist Nafi Thiam has entered into a public dispute with Belgian Athletics, accusing the federation of blocking her from joining its official pre-camp and failing to accredit her physiotherapist

Read More