Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych was ruled out for the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics on Thursday (February 12) after refusing to swap out a helmet honoring the more than 20 of his country’s athletes and coaches killed during its war with Russia, the Associated Press reports.
Heraskevych refused a last-minute plea from the International Olympic Committee to wear an alternate helmet, with the decision coming about 45 minutes prior to him being scheduled to compete and ending a three-day saga. The Ukrainian athlete knew he was risking being pulled from the Winter Olympics by wearing the helmet as the IOC prohibits making statements on the field of play.
The International Bobsled and Skeleton Federation said that Heraskevych’s decision to wear the helmet was “inconsistent with the Olympic Charter and Guidelines on Athlete Expression.” Heraskevych wore the helmet during training, but the IOC asked him to swap it out for races, offering him the chance to instead wear a black armband or display the helmet once he was off the ice.
“I believe, deeply, the IBSF and IOC understand that I’m not violating any rules,” Heraskevych said via the Associated Press. “Also, I would say (it’s) painful that it really looks like discrimination because many athletes already were expressing themselves. … They didn’t face the same things. So, suddenly, just the Ukrainian athlete in this Olympic Games will be disqualified for the helmet.”
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