Video: Is he crazy? A young Russian was cursing on the podium

Youth brings with it many ill-advised steps, which many of us today are surely ashamed of. What the young Russian pilot Artyom Severyukhin did, however, borders on madness, not youthful indiscretion. After winning the European karting championship, in which he competed under the Italian flag, he began to heckle during the Italian national anthem.

Russian athletes have not had it easy over the past six weeks or so. They are not allowed to compete under their flag and are even banned from most sports. And even though many try to point out that they have nothing to do with their country’s war of aggression, there is always someone who throws a pitchfork at them.

After the scandal in Doha in March, where Russian gymnast Ivan Kulyak , with the letter “Z” on his chest, supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on the podium, the scandal was much bigger and more frightening. For Severyukhin, only 15 years old, with a gold medal from the European karting championship around his neck, began to cuss.

The young Russian pilot was not allowed to race under the Russian flag, but was allowed to race with the Italian flag. He was unbeatable in the weekend’s race and deservedly climbed to the top step of the podium for the European Championship title. But what he did next took everyone’s breath away.

Will there be a severe punishment?

To the strains of the Italian national anthem, he thumped his chest, stood up straight and started to cuss. He laughed afterwards, as if he had just done something very funny. What made him do it? No one knows.

“I have no words for what happened at the European Championships,” Ukrainian athlete Ivan Peklin said on Instagram. “Thousands of Ukrainians are dying at the hands of Russian soldiers. Millions of people have been affected by this war. Ukrainians are fighting against Russian fascism every day.”

Criticism quickly began to spread on social media and from the public. At that point, it was expected that the FIA (International Automobile Federation) would act quickly after the events in the Portuguese Algarve. The opposite seemed to be true, as initially the FIA did not comment on the scandal at all.

On Monday, however, it finally issued a statement announcing it had begun to look into Severyukhin’s actions. It described it as “unacceptable” and will reportedly soon make public the steps it will take in the case.

“The FIA confirms that it has launched an immediate investigation into the unacceptable behaviour of Mr Artem Severyukhin, which occurred during the podium ceremony,” the official statement read.

The young Russian would probably not be surprised if the European championships were also his racing debut, given the circumstances at the moment. He sees nothing wrong with his behaviour.

“I won and I was very happy. I am from Russia. I thanked the team and my relatives from Russia. Some people saw my actions as a bad gesture, but it wasn’t. I just thanked them. I am Russian and I stand for my country, ” a spokesman for the Russian Automobile Federation quoted him as saying.

Source: FIA, Twitter, Instagram