Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych was disqualified from the Winter Olympics yesterday after refusing to back down over his banned helmet, which depicts victims of his country’s war with Russia.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said he had been kicked out of the Milan-Cortina Games “after refusing to adhere to the IOC athlete expression guidelines.”
Heraskevych, 27, had insisted he would continue to wear the helmet, which carries pictures of Ukrainian sportsmen and women killed since Russian forces invaded Ukraine in 2022, during the men’s skeleton heats yesterday.
Photo: AP
After the decision, a defiant Heraskevych wrote on social media that “this is price of our dignity,” alongside a picture of his headwear.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had defended the athlete’s right to wear the helmet, but he knew he was taking a risk, as gestures of a political nature during competition are forbidden under the Olympic charter.
The IOC in a statement said that the skeleton racer’s accreditation for the Games had been withdrawn.
“Having been given one final opportunity, skeleton pilot Vladylsav Heraskevych from Ukraine will not be able to start his race at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games this morning,” the IOC statement said. “The decision followed his refusal to comply with the IOC’s Guidelines on Athlete Expression. It was taken by the jury of the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) based on the fact that the helmet he intended to wear was not compliant with the rules.”
Athletes are permitted to express their views in press conferences and on social media, and on Tuesday the IOC said it would “make an exception” for Heraskevych, allowing him to wear a plain black armband during competition.
“Mr Heraskevych was able to display his helmet in all training runs,” the IOC said. “The IOC also offered him the option of displaying it immediately after the competition when going through the mixed zone.”
Olympic chiefs said that IOC president Kirsty Coventry spoke with Heraskevych yesterday morning in a vain bid to make him change his mind.
Ukrainian fans outside the Cortina Sliding Centre expressed dismay over the decision.
Natalia Kharchuk, from Lviv, told reporters that she considered it “discrimination.”
“It’s more about politics, and I think this is not correct. He represents, first of all, our country, and he’s a great sportsman,” she said.
Irina Nalivayko, from Kyiv, said that she was “very disappointed”.
“These people that he showed in his helmet, they’re real people that died because of the Russian invasion,” she said. “It’s a 100 percent a fact and I’m very disappointed that by making this decision it’s as if we’re trying to erase a reality. The war is still going, we’re still freezing, we still have no electricity. People are still dying and this is not good. It’s unacceptable.”
Ukrainian Minister of Foreign affairs Andrii Sybiha also slammed the IOC.
“The IOC has banned not the Ukrainian athlete, but its own reputation. Future generations will recall this as a moment of shame,” he wrote on social media. “He simply wanted to commemorate fellow athletes killed in war. There is nothing wrong with that under any rules or ethics.”
At the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, shortly before Russia invaded, Heraskevych showed a sign that read: “No war in Ukraine” written in yellow and gold to the television cameras.
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