{"id":464005,"date":"2026-02-12T10:31:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T10:31:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/464005\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T10:31:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T10:31:11","slug":"ukrainian-skeleton-slider-disqualified-from-olympics-after-breaking-ioc-rules-on-helmet-honoring-dead-compatriots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/464005\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukrainian skeleton slider disqualified from Olympics after breaking IOC rules on helmet honoring dead compatriots"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Ukrainian skeleton slider Vladyslav Heraskevych<\/a> has been disqualified from the Winter Olympics<\/a> for \u201crefusing to adhere\u201d to the International Olympic Committee\u2019s (IOC) athlete expression guidelines regarding his insistence on wearing a helmet featuring images of athletes killed during the war in Ukraine<\/a> in competition.\n <\/p>\n

\n IOC President Kirsty Coventry met with Heraskevych early Thursday in an attempt to break the impasse, but the Ukrainian stood his ground, resulting in the disqualification.\n <\/p>\n

\n In a statement, the IOC said, \u201cHaving been given one final opportunity, skeleton pilot Vladylsav Heraskevych from Ukraine will not be able to start his race at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games this morning.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe decision followed his refusal to comply with the IOC\u2019s Guidelines on Athlete Expression. It was taken by the jury of the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) based on the fact that the helmet he intended to wear was not compliant with the rules.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe International Olympic Committee (IOC) has therefore decided with regret to withdraw his accreditation for the Milano Cortina 2026 Games.\n <\/p>\n

\ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf9 GET THE MILANO MEMO<\/p>\n

\n Heraskevych told CNN Sports<\/a> that he is planning to appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).\n <\/p>\n

\n Latvia skeleton coach Ivo Steinbergs told Reuters that a protest has been sent by his federation to the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) requesting Heraskevych\u2019s reinstatement.\n <\/p>\n

\n Coventry spoke to reporters following the decision and was emotional in her remarks.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI was not meant to be here, but I thought it was really important to come here and talk to him face to face. No one, especially me, is disagreeing with the messaging, it\u2019s a powerful message, it\u2019s a message of remembrance, of memory,\u201d she said, according to Reuters.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe challenge was to find a solution for the field of play. Sadly, we\u2019ve not been able to find that solution\u2026 I really wanted to see him race. It\u2019s been an emotional morning.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt\u2019s literally about the rules and the regulations and that in this case\u2026 we have to be able to keep a safe environment for everyone and sadly, that just means no messaging is allowed.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Fans were just arriving at the Cortina Sliding Centre when the news broke that Heraskevych had been disqualified and the reactions from Ukrainians in attendance were of shock. Natalia Khaichyk had traveled from Ukraine just to watch Heraskevych compete and was devastated that he had been disqualified.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt\u2019s a very, very bad decision,\u201d she told CNN Sports while standing on the hill up to the sliding venue in Cortina d\u2019Ampezzo. \u201cWe got up early to come here and show our support. But this is even bigger than a medal because he\u2019s won the medal of our heart.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n The move to disqualify Heraskevych comes after he told CNN Sports on Tuesday that he would defy the IOC and wear the helmet in competition, saying, \u201cI wear this helmet two days ago, yesterday, today. I will wear it tomorrow and I will wear it for the race day.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThese people sacrificed their lives and because of that, I am able to be here today. I\u2019m able to be at the Olympics, and I will not betray them.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n The helmet in question features a number of athletes who were killed due to the ongoing war in Ukraine: weightlifter Alina Perehudova, boxer Pavlo Ischenko, ice hockey player Oleksiy Loginov, actor and athlete Ivan Kononenko, diver and coach Mykyta Kozubenko, shooter Oleksiy Habarov and dancer Daria Kurdel.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cSome things are more important than sports,\u201d Heraskevych told CNN Tuesday. \u201cTo pay tribute to them, to people who sacrificed their lives because of this sacrifice, I\u2019m able today to be here, and for me it\u2019s important to pay tribute to them and pay honor to their families.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n On Wednesday, IOC spokesperson Mark Adams told a news conference that he wanted Heraskyevch to compete and \u201chave his moment, that\u2019s very, very important\u201d but insisted that the his helmet cannot be worn on the field of play.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe would encourage him to express his grief. We feel his grief. We expressly want him to do that but in the end let me be clear: it\u2019s not the message, it\u2019s the place that counts,\u201d Adams added.\n <\/p>\n

\n Heraskevych topped the standings topped the standings after the fifth training session in the skeleton Wednesday, before opting out of the sixth and final training session.\n <\/p>\n

\n The men\u2019s competition is currently underway.\n <\/p>\n

\n This story has been updated with additional information.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ukrainian skeleton slider Vladyslav Heraskevych has been disqualified from the Winter Olympics for \u201crefusing to adhere\u201d to the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":464006,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4,450,451,3,452,453],"class_list":{"0":"post-464005","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-breaking-news","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-headlines","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-top-stories","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464005","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=464005"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464005\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/464006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}