CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy
Vladyslav Heraskevych, a Ukrainian skeleton racer and Olympic medal hopeful, arrived at the Winter Games with a new helmet bearing the faces of fellow Ukrainian athletes killed by Russian attacks.
He intended it as a tribute, a gesture of remembrance for his nation’s fallen sportsmen and women.
On Monday, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) told him he could not wear it.
The men’s skeleton competitor — who placed fourth at last year’s world championships — had trained in the helmet earlier Monday, awaiting a final ruling from Olympic officials on whether he could use it in competition later this week.
That decision came down hours later. The IOC said no, Heraskevych told The Associated Press, citing its rule against political statements during the Games.
“We didn’t violate any rules, and it should be allowed for me to compete with this helmet,” Heraskevych said. “I cannot understand how this helmet hurts anyone. It’s to pay tribute to athletes, some of them medalists in the Youth Olympic Games.
That means they’re Olympic family. They were part of this Olympic family, so I cannot understand why they would find a reason to say no.”
Even Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy weighed in on social media, thanking the athlete for “reminding the world the price of our struggle.”
Heraskevych is slated to compete on Saturday and Sunday. Without a last-minute reversal, he will race helmetless, or in another design, with his tribute deemed too political for the field of play.
By James Kisoo
