Ukraine's Vladyslav Heraskevych out
of Winter Olympics because of banned helmet honoring war dead
[February 13, 2026]
By TIM REYNOLDS
CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav
Heraskevych, a likely medal contender at the Milan Cortina Games,
was barred from racing Thursday after refusing a last-minute plea
from the International Olympic Committee to not use a helmet that
honors more than 20 athletes and coaches killed since Russia invaded
his country four years ago.
The decision came roughly 45 minutes before the start of the
competition and ended a three-day saga where Heraskevych knew he was
risking being pulled from the Games by wearing the helmet, one that
the IOC says breaks 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 the helmet in training,
but the IOC asked him to wear a different helmet in races. It
offered concessions, such as wearing a black armband or letting him
display the helmet once he was off the ice.
“I believe, deeply, the IBSF and IOC understand that I’m not
violating any rules,” Heraskevych said. “Also, I would say (it's)
painful that it really looks like discrimination because many
athletes already were expressing themselves. ... They didn't face
the same things. So, suddenly, just the Ukrainian athlete in this
Olympic Games will be disqualified for the helmet.”
IOC President Kirsty Coventry, who was slated to be in Cortina
d'Ampezzo to see Alpine skiing, went to the sliding center instead.
She was waiting at the top of the track when Heraskevych arrived and
they met privately. After about 10 minutes, Coventry was unable to
change Heraskevych’s mind.
“We didn't find common ground in this regard,” Heraskevych said.
Tears rolled down Coventry's face after the meeting. The Olympic
champion swimmer said she wanted a different outcome, and the IOC
said its decision was made with regret.
“As you’ve all seen over the last few days, we’ve allowed for
Vladyslav to use his helmet in training,” Coventry said. “No one, no
one — especially me — is disagreeing with the messaging. The
messaging is a powerful message. It’s a message of remembrance. It’s
a message of memory and no one is disagreeing with that. The
challenge that we are facing is that we wanted to ask or come up
with a solution for just the field of play.”
Coventry and Heraskevych agreed that the helmet images aren't
clearly seen during races, since sliders zip down the icy chute at
around 120 kph (75 mph). That, the IOC hoped, was the window to a
compromise. Heraskevych would not budge.
“Sadly, we’ve not been able to come to that solution,” Coventry
said. “I really wanted to see him race today. It’s been an emotional
morning.”
Heraskevych filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport,
but the race went on without him. The first two runs were Thursday;
the last two are Friday. Heraskevych and his attorneys asked CAS for
a response by Friday, though it’s not clear how his situation could
be remedied at this point.
Regardless of what CAS says, if anything, his chance to race in
these Games is gone. The IOC let him keep his credential, meaning he
can remain at the Olympics as an athlete — just not a competing one.
About a dozen Russian athletes are being allowed to compete at the
Olympics as neutral individuals along with seven Belarusians; they
are not allowed to compete under their national flag or anthem.
Heraskevych has spoken out about why he believes they shouldn't be
at the Olympics and said the IOC's decision “plays along with
Russian propaganda.”
[to top of second column] |
Mykhailo Heraskevych, father of Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav
Heraskevych, reacts as he sits next to the start house of the
sliding center at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo,
Italy, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
The decision drew immediate condemnation from
officials in Ukraine and some athletes.
“Sport shouldn’t mean amnesia, and the Olympic movement should help
stop wars, not play into the hands of aggressors,” Ukraine President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on social media. “Unfortunately, the
decision of the International Olympic Committee to disqualify
Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych says otherwise.”
In the luge team relay Thursday night, Ukraine's six sliders all
took a knee after the team crossed the finish line and hoisted their
helmets — plain white ones, no designs to be found — skyward in a
show of support for Heraskevych.
“Disqualified. I think that’s enough to understand what the modern
IOC really is and how it disgraces the idea of the Olympic
movement,” Ukrainian skier Kateryna Kotsar posted on Instagram.
“Vladyslav Heraskevych, for us and for the whole world, you’re a
champion. Even without starting.”
The IOC had sided with Ukraine's top slider before. When he
displayed a “No war in Ukraine” sign after his fourth and final run
at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, the IOC said he was simply calling for
peace and did not find him in violation of the Olympic charter.
This time, Heraskevych said he believes there are inconsistencies in
how the IOC decides what statements are allowed. Among those he
cited: U.S. figure skater Maxim Naumov bringing a photo of his late
parents — former pairs world champions Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim
Naumov, who were among the 67 people killed in a plane crash on Jan.
29, 2025 — to the kiss-and-cry area after his skate in Milan this
week, and Israeli skeleton athlete Jared Firestone's decision to
appear at the opening ceremony wearing a kippah that bore the names
of 11 Israeli athletes and coaches killed in the 1972 attack during
the Munich Games.
“A competitor literally placed the memory of the dead on his head to
honor them,” Heraskevych wrote on Instagram. “I frankly do not
understand how these two cases are fundamentally different.”
Firestone said simply that he admired Heraskevych. “I think he’s a
man with strong values,” he said.
In Milan, IOC spokesman Mark Adams said if athletes were allowed to
display messaging without restrictions on the field of play, “that
would lead to a chaotic situation.”
“Sport without rules cannot function. ... If we have no rules, we
have no sport,” Adams said.
Heraskevych was fourth at the world championships last year and was
among the fastest in training leading into the Olympic races. A
medal was possible, but to Heraskevych, the helmet mattered more.
“The International Olympic Committee destroyed our dreams,” said
Mykhailo Heraskevych, the slider’s coach and father. “It’s not
fair.”
___
AP journalists Julia Frankel, Vasilisa Stepanenko and Graham Dunbar
contributed to this report.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
