Milan — Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych said he would wear a helmet showing images of some of his fellow Ukrainian athletes who have been killed in Russia’s war on his country when he competes in the 2026 Winter Games in Italy, despite being barred from doing so by the International Olympic Committee.
“We are able to enjoy sport and enjoy Olympics, it’s also because of their sacrifice, and I believe they deserve to be here today with me and also they deserve to be with me on competition day,” Heraskevych told journalists late Tuesday.
When asked what he would do if he was prevented from competing with the helmet, Heraskevych said, “during this Olympics, it was a lot of political statements from U.S. athletes, even in sport arenas. It was Russian flag already on the helmet of one of the athletes. So they didn’t receive any sanctions, any penalties. So if it’s equal treatment to me, it should be the same.”
When asked if it would be worth it if he was disqualified from the Games for wearing the helmet, he said: “I will not betray them.”
In a letter from the IOC, which the Ukrainian Olympic team shared with CBS News early Tuesday, the committee said, “sadly, today’s world is divided and full of conflicts and tragedies. The IOC has addressed from the beginning the situation of Ukrainian sports following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The IOC fully understands the desire of the athletes to remember their friends who have lost their lives as a result of many conflicts around the world.”
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The IOC said, however, that “the focus of the Olympic Games must remain on athletes’ performances, sport and the international unity and harmony that the Olympic Games seek to advance. It is a fundamental principle, applied equally to all delegations and athletes, that sports at the Olympic Games must be separated from political, religious or any other type of interference.”
It said Heraskevych “like all other athletes, will not be able to compete with a personalized helmet (as he used in training sessions and posted on social media) … This being said, the IOC is willing to make an exception to the Guidelines in this specific case should the athlete wish to pay tribute to his fellow athletes and express his sorrow by wearing a black armband or ribbon without any personalization.”
Heraskevych said earlier on social media that many of those depicted on his helmet were athletes, some of whom were killed while defending Ukraine, others by Russian shelling.
“Among them are representatives of summer sports and winter sports. Among them are Olympians – members of the so-called Olympic family,” Heraskevych said.
Heraskevych said his national teammate Dmytro Sharper was depicted on the helmet, as well as boxer Maksym Halinichev, a Youth Olympic medalist. He also said a number of children and people who supported veteran sports were depicted.
“I will compete for them,” Heraskevych said.
“His helmet bears portraits of our athletes who were killed by Russia. Figure skater Dmytro Sharpar, who died in the battles near Bakhmut, 19-year-old biathlete Yevhen Malyshev, who was killed by the occupiers near Kharkiv, and other athletes who lost their lives in the Russian war,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Monday.
“I thank Vladislav Heraskevich, the flag bearer of our team at the Winter Olympics, for reminding the world of the price of our struggle. This truth cannot be inconvenient, inappropriate, or called a ‘political action at sporting events,'” Zelenskyy continued. “It is a reminder to the whole world of what modern Russia is like. And this is what reminds everyone of the global role of sport and the historical mission of the Olympic movement as such. It is all about peace and for the sake of life. Ukraine is faithful to this. Russia proves the opposite.”
On Tuesday, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Heorhii Tykhyi, told CBS News that Ukraine’s government regretted the IOC’s decision, and that around 800 sports facilities in Ukraine had been either destroyed or damaged by Russian strikes, including at least 20 Olympic, Paralympic and Deaflympic training sites.
“This is a simple act of paying tribute to hundreds of Ukrainian athletes killed by Russia during this war, and there is nothing illegal or political or inappropriate in this,” Tykhyi said. “Bureaucrats may want to close their eyes for the reality, but the problem is that the reality does not disappear if you close your eyes and if you just want to ignore the largest war of aggression in Europe since World War II happening right now at this moment of the Olympic Games.”
