Ukrainian Winter Olympics athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych has been disqualified from competing within the skeleton occasion right now, after he made clear his plans to defy Olympic guidelines and put on a helmet that depicted fellow athletes who’ve been killed throughout Russia’s unlawful four-year invasion of his house nation.
As reported by the New York Times, Heraskevych had made clear his intentions to put on the helmet throughout each observe and aggressive runs within the skeleton occasion, and had stated that he wouldn’t be deterred by threats of disqualification.
Simply earlier than competitors was as a consequence of start right now, February 12, the present president of the Worldwide Olympic Committee, Kirsty Coventry, met with Heraskevych and his father to debate the scenario. The athlete clearly didn’t again down, and consequently was disqualified from the occasion. The Occasions says each Coventry and Heraskevych’s father have been in tears following the dialog.
Following this, the Occasions experiences Heraskevych spoke to journalists in Cortina, saying, “There are issues extra vital than medals. I stood up for what I consider in.”
Sport shouldn’t imply amnesia, and the Olympic motion ought to assist cease wars, not play into the arms of aggressors. Sadly, the choice of the Worldwide Olympic Committee to disqualify Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych says in any other case. That is definitely… pic.twitter.com/gGXizj5C5m
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 12, 2026
Forward of the disqualification, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted his assist for Heraskevych to X earlier right now, stating,
“Sport shouldn’t imply amnesia, and the Olympic motion ought to assist cease wars, not play into the arms of aggressors. Sadly, the choice of the Worldwide Olympic Committee to disqualify Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych says in any other case. That is definitely not concerning the rules of Olympism, that are based on equity and the assist of peace.”
The Olympic guidelines are, in a single sense, unambiguous over banning athletes utilizing the occasion to make political statements. Given this, the disqualification was grimly inevitable. Nevertheless, it’s clearly farcical to faux that silence is apolitical, or certainly that the present ban on Russia from competing within the Olympics is in any sense not a political determination. The occasion exists throughout the enormously advanced politics of a conflicted planet, and the pretense that the Olympics is by some means ideologically indifferent from this actuality is naive and really a lot a political assertion of its personal.
This additionally fails to acknowledge the nuance of Heraskevych’s helmet, which merely depicts photos of quite a few athletes who’ve been killed by Russian forces throughout their ongoing unlawful invasion of Ukraine. It doesn’t function textual content, nor any overt assertion. Loads of athletes throughout the occasion have worn clothes that’s recognizing family members, flashing photos to cameras when celebrating after competing. Heraskevych calmly and neatly addresses all of this, and the hypocrisy of the Olympic Committee, in a latest Instagram submit:
