Heraskevych has been banned for sporting a helmet featuring pictures of Ukrainian athletes who lost their lives in the conflict with Russia.
Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych’s struggle with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) concludes in failure.
IOC Disqualifies Ukraine’s Heraskevych From 2026 Winter Olympics Due to Memorial Helmet
The IOC has formally disqualified Heraskevych from the current 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics for sporting a helmet featuring depictions of Ukrainian athletes who lost their lives in the conflict with Russia.
“The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has thus sadly decided to revoke his accreditation for the Milano Cortina 2026 Games,” an official statement from the IOC stated.
“Despite numerous discussions and face-to-face meetings with the IOC and Mr. Heraskevych, the most recent being this morning with IOC President Kirsty Coventry, he did not see any possibility of compromise.”
Heraskevych had donned the personalized helmet during a practice in Cortina and planned to compete with it, leveraging the Games to maintain global focus on the war in Ukraine
Russia’s attack on Ukraine, which commenced shortly after the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, is nearing its fourth anniversary and continues to be Europe’s most lethal conflict since World War II.
In a social media update on Monday, Heraskevych stated that the IOC had prohibited the helmet from use in both training and competition — yet he reaffirmed his determination to wear it anyway.
He mentioned that the images on his helmet symbolize just a small portion of the athletes who have been lost, including Olympians and Youth Olympic medalists like his ex-teammate, figure skater Dmytro Sharpar.
Heraskevych, participating in his third Winter Olympics, has been one of Ukraine’s most prominent athlete-advocates.
Last week, he represented a group of 46 Ukrainian athletes as the flag bearer during the opening ceremony in Milan, alongside speed skater Yelyzaveta Sydorko
