The Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych, one of the favorites to medal at the Milan-Cortina Games, was prevented from competing on Thursday after refusing a last-minute request from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) not to wear a helmet that honors more than 20 athletes and coaches killed in his country’s war against Russia.
The decision was taken about 45 minutes before the start of the competition and ended a three-day saga, during which Heraskevych knew he risked being pulled from the Games for wearing the helmet, which, according to the IOC, violates on-field expression rules.
The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation stated that his decision to wear the helmet was “incompatible with the Olympic Charter and the Guidelines on Athlete Expression.”
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He wore the piece in training, but the IOC asked the athlete to use a different helmet in competitions. The federation offered concessions, such as the use of a black armband or permission to display the helmet after leaving the ice.
“I firmly believe that the IBSF and the IOC understand that I am not violating any rule,” Heraskevych said. “Furthermore, I would say that it is painful that this seems like discrimination, because many athletes have already spoken out… They have not faced the same things. So, suddenly, just the Ukrainian athlete at these Olympics will be disqualified because of the helmet.”
The IOC president, Kirsty Coventry, who was supposed to be in Cortina d’Ampezzo to watch alpine skiing, went to the winter sports center to meet with Heraskevych. “We did not reach a consensus on this,” the sports official said about the matter.
Emotional Coventry could not contain her emotion after the meeting. The Olympic swimming champion made clear that she wished for a different outcome, and the IOC stated that the decision was taken with regret.
“As you have all seen in recent days, we allowed Vladyslav to wear his helmet during training,” Coventry said. “No one, no one – especially me – disagrees with the message. The message is powerful. It is a message of remembrance. It is a memory and no one disagrees with that. The challenge we face is that we wanted to find a solution only for the field of play.”
Heraskevych said he would appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), but the evidence continued without him. The first two runs were on Thursday, the last two on Friday. Regardless of CAS’s decision, his chance to compete at these Games is over. The IOC is allowing him to keep his credential, which means he can remain at the Olympics as an athlete – but not as a competitor.
The decision drew immediate condemnation from Ukrainian authorities. “Sport should not mean amnesia, and the Olympic movement should help end wars, not play into the hands of aggressors,” wrote Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on social media. “Unfortunately, the IOC’s decision to disqualify the Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych says the opposite.”
