![\"IOC](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1770889391_849_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nCORTINA D\u2019AMPEZZO, Italy \u2014 Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych is out of the Milan-Cortina Games after refusing a last-minute plea from the International Olympic Committee to use a helmet other than the one that honors athletes killed in the war with Russia.<\/p>\n
International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry was waiting for Heraskevych at the top of the track when he arrived around 8:15 a.m. Thursday, or roughly 75 minutes before the start of the men\u2019s skeleton race.<\/p>\n
They went into a private area and spoke briefly, and Coventry was unable to change Heraskevych\u2019s mind. He was holding the decision from the International Bobsled and Skeleton Federation when he briefly addressed reporters and said he would appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard to say or put into words. It\u2019s emptiness,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Coventry spoke with reporters after the meeting, tears rolling down her face as she spoke.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a message of memory and no one is disagreeing with that,\u201d Coventry said.<\/p>\n
The IOC added that it made its decision \u201cwith regret.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
IOC president Kirsty Coventry speaks to reporters in Cortina D\u2019Ampezzo, Italy, on Thursday.<\/p>\n
(Kirsty Coventry \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite multiple exchanges and in-person meetings between the IOC and Mr Heraskevych, the last one this morning with IOC president Kirsty Coventry, he did not consider any form of compromise,\u201d the IOC said in a statement. \u201cThe IOC was very keen for Mr. Heraskevych to compete. This is why the IOC sat down with him to look for the most respectful way to address his desire to remember his fellow athletes who have lost their lives following Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine. The essence of this case is not about the message, it is about where he wanted to express it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Heraskevych came to the Olympics with a customized helmet showing the faces of more than 20 Ukrainian athletes and coaches who were killed during the war, a conflict that started shortly after the 2022 Beijing Games ended.<\/p>\n
The IOC said Monday night that the helmet wouldn\u2019t be allowed in competition, citing a rule against making political statements on the Olympic field of play. Heraskevych wore the helmet for training Tuesday and Wednesday anyway, knowing the IOC could ultimately keep him from the Olympic race.<\/p>\n
![\"Ukraine's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1770889392_603_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Ukraine\u2019s Vladyslav Heraskevych takes part in a skeleton training run on Monday.<\/p>\n
(Alessandra Tarantino \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n
\u201cThe helmet does not violate any IOC rules,\u201d Heraskevych said.<\/p>\n
The IOC had sided with Heraskevych before. When he displayed a \u201cNo war in Ukraine\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want him to compete. We really, really want him to have his moment,\u201d IOC spokesman Mark Adams said Wednesday. \u201cThat\u2019s very, very important. We want all athletes to have their moment and that\u2019s the point. We want all our athletes to have a fair and level playing field.\u201d<\/p>\n
The first two runs of the race were Thursday, with the final two runs on Friday night. Heraskevych was a legitimate medal hopeful.<\/p>\n
Reynolds writes for the Associated Press.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CORTINA D\u2019AMPEZZO, Italy \u2014 Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych is out of the Milan-Cortina Games after refusing a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":463936,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,215489,215490,3727,215491,934,4281,3,79600,13646,215492,129364,215488,215486,21,19,22,20,25,24,215487,58926],"class_list":["post-463935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-competitor","tag-consecutive-gold-medal","tag-event","tag-halfpipe","tag-live-update","tag-los-angeles-times","tag-news","tag-status","tag-switzerland","tag-torn-labrum","tag-total-number","tag-training-run","tag-u-s-athlete","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-winter-games","tag-winter-olympics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=463935"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463935\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/463936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=463935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=463935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=463935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}