This Ukrainian Olympic Skeleton Racer Wore A Helmet With Athletes Killed By Russia’s War In Ukraine
“Some of them were my friends,” Heraskevych, who is Ukraine's flag bearer, said after his training session.
Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych paid tribute to his fellow athletes killed by Russia's war in Ukraine by wearing a helmet with their photos to training at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
During the training session in Cortina, Heraskevych sported a helmet with images of killed Ukrainian athletes, including teenage weightlifter Alina Perehudova, boxer Pavlo Ischenko, ice hockey player Oleksiy Loginov, actor and athlete Ivan Kononenko, diving athlete and coach Mykyta Kozubenko, shooter Oleksiy Habarov and dancer Daria Kurdel.
“Some of them were my friends,” Heraskevych, who is Ukraine's flag bearer, said after his training session.
He told Reuters later that he was informed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that he was banned from using his helmet at official training sessions and competitions because of Olympic rules, which state that “No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas.”
The IOC said it had not received any official request to use the helmet in the skeleton competition, which starts on Feb. 12.
The 26-year-old has since taken to Instagram to express his disappointment in the IOC’s decision.
“[This is] a decision that simple breaks my heart… The feeling that the IOC is betraying those athletes who were part of the Olympic movement, not allowing them to be honored on the sports arena where these athletes will never be able to step again,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised Heraskevych in a post on Telegram for "reminding the world of the price of [Ukrainians'] struggle.
"This truth cannot be inconvenient, inappropriate, or called a 'political act at a sporting event'. It is a reminder to the whole world of what modern Russia is," Zelenskyy said.
This is not the first time Heraskevych has used his platform to speak up for Ukraine.
At the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, he held up a sign reading “No war in Ukraine”, just days before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Selina Wu
