Ukrainian Olympic athlete excluded from Winter Games for helmet showing compatriots murdered in Russia

Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy — Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych is out of the Milan Cortina Games after rejecting a last-minute request from the International Olympic Committee to use a different helmet than the one he honors athletes killed in Russia’s war against their country.

IOC President Kirsty Coventry was waiting for Heraskevych at the top of the track when he arrived around 8:15 a.m. Thursday, about 75 minutes before the start of the men’s skeleton race.

They entered a private area and spoke briefly, and Coventry was unable to change Heraskevych’s mind. The Ukrainian athlete briefly addressed reporters and said he would appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

“It’s hard to say or put into words. It’s a void,” he said.

“This is the price of our dignity,” he added in a post on social media.

Coventry spoke to reporters after the meeting with tears rolling down her cheeks.

“I wasn’t meant to be here, but I thought it was really important to come here and talk to him face to face,” Coventry told reporters, according to the Reuters news agency. “No one, especially me, disagrees with the message, it is a powerful message, it is a message of remembrance, of memory. The challenge was to find a solution for the playing field. Unfortunately we have not been able to find that solution. I really wanted to see it run. It has been an emotional morning.”

The IOC added that it made its decision “with regret.”

“Despite multiple exchanges and in-person meetings between the IOC and Mr. Heraskevych, most recently this morning with IOC President Kirsty Coventry, he did not consider any form of compromise,” the IOC said in a statement. “The IOC was very interested in Mr. Heraskevych competing. That is why they sat down with him to find the most respectful way to satisfy his desire to remember his fellow athletes who lost their lives after The Russian invasion of Ukraine. “The essence of this case is not the message, but where I wanted to express it.”

Heraskevych arrived at the Olympics wearing a custom helmet that featured the faces of more than 20 Ukrainian athletes and coaches who died during the war, a conflict that began shortly after the 2022 Beijing Games ended.

The IOC said late Monday that the helmet would not be allowed in competition, citing a rule that prohibits making political statements on the Olympic playing field. Heraskevych wore the helmet to train on Tuesday and Wednesday anyway, knowing that the IOC could ultimately exclude him from the Olympic race.

“The helmet does not violate any IOC rules,” Heraskevych said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticized the IOC decision on Thursday, saying on social media that “sport should not mean amnesia, and the Olympic movement should help stop wars, not play into the hands of aggressors. Unfortunately, the (IOC) decision says otherwise,” adding that Heraskevych’s helmet was a reminder of Russian aggression.

“No rules have been violated,” he said.

The IOC had sided with Heraskevych before. When it displayed a “No to war in Ukraine” sign after its fourth and final appearance at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, the IOC said it was simply calling for peace and did not find it had violated the Olympic charter.

“We want him to compete. We really want him to have his moment,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams said Wednesday. “That’s very, very important. We want every athlete to have their moment and that’s the point. We want all of our athletes to have a fair and level playing field.”

The first two races of the race were on Thursday and the last two were on Friday night. Heraskevych was a legitimate medal contender.

Speaking with News themezone’ Aidan Stretch in kyiv on Wednesday, Ukrainian artist Iryna Protts, who made Heraskevych’s helmet, said she would be “very upset” if she was not allowed to wear it.

“This world of mine seems like hypocrisy,” he said. “A lot of our people have been killed. Our smart people have been killed. Our businessmen have been killed. Our athletes have been killed. And now it’s the fourth year of the war, and it seems like no one cares. Everyone just watches, in silence.”