(LONDON) — A Ukrainian athlete has been disqualified and had his accreditation withdrawn at the Winter Olympics after insisting on wearing a “helmet of remembrance” as a tribute to people killed in his country’s ongoing war with Russia, officials said.
Vladyslav Heraskevych, a medal hopeful in skeleton and the Ukrainian flag bearer in the opening ceremonies last Friday, learned of the decision shortly before he was supposed to compete in the men’s skeleton competition on Thursday morning.
The International Olympic Committee said that it had “decided with regret to withdraw his accreditation for the Milano Cortina 2026 Games” after meeting with Heraskevych. The committee cited his refusal to compromise on wearing the helmet that he said honored those pictured on his helmet.
“I am disqualified from the race,” Heraskevych said following his disqualification. “Certainly we didn’t find common ground in this regard (with the International Olympic Committee).
The IOC said that they were “very keen” for the athlete to compete and made multiple and repeated attempts to reach a compromise with Heraskevych.
“The 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’s invasion of Ukraine,” the IOC said in their statement on Thursday morning.
“The essence of this case is not about the message,” said the IOC. “It is about where he wanted to express it.”
Olympic organizers said Heraskevych was able to display his helmet in all training runs and that they offered him the option of “displaying it immediately after the competition when going through the mixed zone.”
“It’s not about the messaging, it’s literally about the rules and the regulations,” said IOC President Kirsty Coventry. “In this case, the field of play, we have to be able to keep a safe environment for everyone, and sadly that means no messaging is allowed.”
The IOC said that it informed Heraskevych on Tuesday that his helmet was “not compliant with the Olympic Charter … in particular the IOC’s Guidelines on Athlete Expression.”
The alternative the IOC offered was to allow him to wear a black armband or black ribbon as an alternative solution to the use of the helmet, but Heraskevych refused.
“I believe we didn’t violate any rules,” Heraskevych said. “I see big inconsistencies in decisions, in the wording, in the press conferences of the IOC, and I believe it’s the biggest problem that it’s inconsistent.”
Heraskevych went further and said that this incident “looks like discrimination because athletes were already expressing themselves.”
“[A] U.S. figure skater, Canadian freeskier [and] Israeli skeleton athlete who is also here today, they didn’t face the same things,” Heraskevych claimed. “So suddenly just a Ukrainian athlete in this Olympic Games will be disqualified for this helmet which is not violating any rules.”
Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Amdrii Sybiha issued a statement on Thursday saying that “future generations will recall this as a moment of shame.”
“He simply wanted to commemorate fellow athletes killed in war,” Sybiha said. “There is nothing wrong with that under any rules or ethics. The IOC intimidated, disrespected, and even lectured our athlete and other Ukrainians on how they should keep quiet about ‘one of 130 conflicts in the world.’”
The final decision was made Thursday morning, according to the IOC, when Heraskevych met with Coventry who subsequently explained to him “one final time, the IOC position.”
“As in the personal meetings before, he refused to change his position,” the IOC said.
Heraskevych, meanwhile, said that his fight for justice is not over even if he won’t be competing in the Milano Cortina Olympic Games.
“I believe we need to continue to fight for our rights,” Heraskevych said. “I told you from day one that I do not agree with what the IOC says to us, so probably we will prepare a CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport) case and we will defend our rights in CAS.”
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