Israeli rhythmic gymnast Linoy Ashram. Photo: Ayelet Zussman/Wikimedia.

i24 News – Russian Internet users, furious that Israel’s Linoy Ashram secured the gold medal at the rhythmic gymnastic event during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, have launched a wave of criticism at the athlete.

The Russians were mirroring the stance of the country’s Olympic team, which expressed outrage that Ashram beat their three-time world champion athlete Dina Averina to the top of the podium. They argued that the judges erred in not punishing Ashram more severely for apparently dropping the ribbon during her gold medal-winning routine. She beat Averina by 0.15 points in Saturday’s final.

Ashram posted a video of her celebrating her achievement with her Israeli teammates to her Instagram page Sunday, which proved too much for hundreds of disgruntled Russian gymnastics fans.