Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych, a possible medal contender at the Winter Olympics, was banned from running on Thursday after refusing a last-minute request by the International Olympic Committee not to wear a helmet honoring more than 20 athletes and coaches killed in his country’s war with Russia.
The decision came about 45 minutes before the start of the competition and ended a three-day saga in which Heraskevych knew she risked being kicked out of the Games for wearing the helmet, which the IOC says violates rules against making statements on the field of play.
The International Bobsled and Skeleton Federation said his decision to wear the helmet was “inconsistent with the Olympic Charter and Guidelines on Athlete Expression.”
He wore a helmet in training, but the IOC asked him to wear a different helmet in races. It gave permission, like wearing a black belt or letting him reveal his helmet when he got off the ice.
“I believe that, seriously, the IBSF and the IOC understand that I am not breaking any rules,” said Heraskevych.
“Also, I can say (sadly) that it looks like real racism because many athletes were already expressing themselves. …
IOC President Kirsty Coventry, who was supposed to be in Cortina d’Ampezzo to see the Alpine skiing, went to the skating rink instead to meet Heraskevych.
He was waiting at the top of the track when he arrived around 8:15 am, they met secretly. After about 10 minutes, Coventry couldn’t change Heraskevych’s mind.
“We didn’t find a consensus on this,” Heraskevych said.
Coventry was in tears after the meeting. The Olympic champion swimmer made it clear he wanted a different result, and the IOC said the decision was made with regret.
Ukrainian figure skater Vladyslav Heraskevych talks to the media at the first indoor figure skating center for the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026.
(AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
“As you have seen in the last few days, we have allowed Vladyslav to use a helmet in training,” said Coventry.
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“There is no one, no one – especially me – who disagrees with the messages. The messages are a powerful message. A message of remembrance. A message of memory and no one is against that. The challenge we are facing is that we wanted to ask or come up with a solution for the entertainment sector only.”
Coventry and Heraskevych agreed that the helmet is not very visible during races, as long as the sliders enter the icy surface at about 120 kph (75 mph). The IOC hoped that was a window of agreement. Heraskevych did not move.
“Unfortunately, we could not come to that solution,” said Coventry. “I wanted to see him run today.
Heraskevych said he would refer it to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but the race continued without him. The first two runs were on Thursday, the last two on Friday.
Regardless of what CAS says, if anything, his chance to run in the Games is gone. The IOC allows him to keep his credentials, meaning he can stay in the Olympics as an athlete – not just a competitor.
About a dozen Russian athletes were allowed to compete in the Olympics as neutrals and seven Belarusians. They are not allowed to compete under their national flag or anthem.
Heraskevych has spoken out several times about why he believes they should not be at the Olympics and said the IOC’s decision “is consistent with Russian propaganda.”
The decision was immediately condemned by Ukrainian officials and other athletes.
“Sports should not mean amnesia, and the Olympic organization should help stop wars, not play into the hands of the aggressors,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on social media.
“Unfortunately, the International Olympic Committee’s decision to disqualify Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych says otherwise.”
“They don’t deserve it. I think it’s enough to understand what the modern IOC really is and how it insults the idea of the Olympic movement,” added Ukrainian skier Kateryna Kotsar on Instagram. “Vladyslav Heraskevych, for us and the whole world, is a champion.
The IOC had previously sided with Ukraine’s top slide.
When he displayed a “No war in Ukraine” sign after his fourth and final Olympic Games in Beijing in 2022, the IOC said he was simply calling for peace and did not find him in violation of the Olympic constitution.
In this video frame, Vladyslav Heraskevych, of Ukraine, holds a sign that reads “No War in Ukraine” after finishing the men’s skeleton race at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Friday, Feb. 11, 2022, Yanqing District in Beijing.
(NBC via AP)
In this case, Heraskevych said he believes there is an inconsistency in the way the IOC decides which statements are allowed.
Among those who spoke: US skier Maxim Naumov brought a photo of his late parents – former world number two Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who were among the 67 people who died in a plane crash on Jan. 29, 2025 – in the place of kissing and crying after his slide in the Milankelered Fireton appeared at the opening ceremony of the Israel Jaletered Firetonth. a kippah that bore the names of 11 Israeli athletes and coaches who were killed in 1972 during the Munich Games.
“The competitor put the memory of the dead on his head to honor them,” Heraskevych wrote on Instagram. “I don’t understand how the two cases are fundamentally different.”
Firestone said he liked Heraskevych. “I think he is a man of strong principles,” he said.
In Milan, IOC spokesman Mark Adams said if athletes were allowed to display messages without restrictions on the playing field “it would lead to a serious situation.”
“Sports without rules won’t work. … If we don’t have rules, we don’t have sports,” Adams said.
Heraskevych was fourth at the world championships last year and was among the fastest in training for the Olympic races. The medal was out of reach, but for Heraskevych, the hat was more important.
“The International Olympic Committee destroyed our dreams,” said Mykhailo Heraskevych, the coach and father of the figure skater. “It’s not fair.”
