Banished 'Lord of the Rings' mulls lawsuit

The Hague : Dutch gymnast Yuri Van Gelder, dubbed the 'Lord of the Rings', is mulling legal action after being kicked off his Olympics team and still wants to compete in Monday's final, his lawyer said Wednesday.

It was not yet clear how Van Gelder planned to secure his return "but we are looking at the best way," lawyer Cor Hellingman told the Dutch news agency ANP.

The 2005 world men's rings champion was sent home in disgrace on Tuesday after flouting strict rules imposed on the Dutch Olympics team by drinking during a night out on the town in Rio.

Van Gelder, 33, competing in his first Olympics, had sealed his place in the final of the men's ringsby coming eighth in Saturday's qualifiers.

But TeamNL said his behaviour in the hours after the qualifiers was "unacceptable" and it had been "left with no choice" but to ban him from continuing.

Hellingman said Van Gelder and his legal team were "considering taking steps which would allow him to return for the final" which could include an emergency appeal to the courts.

However, Van Gelder's place in the eight-man final has already been given to France's Danny Pinheiro Rodrigues.

He was the second replacement athlete added to the final line-up after Ukraine's Igor Radivilov was also granted a place when Frenchman Samir Ait Said suffered a horrific leg break due a bad landing on the vault during qualifying.