IOC Bans Ukrainian Skeleton Athlete's War Victims Helmet

Vladyslav Heraskevych, 27, a Ukrainian skeleton athlete competing at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, has been banned from wearing a helmet featuring the faces of compatriots who died in the war triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Heraskevych drew attention on February 9 (local time) when he wore the helmet depicting Ukrainian athletes killed in the war during a practice run at the Cortina Sliding Centre in Italy.

"Some of the people painted on the helmet were my friends," he told Reuters after the run.

The helmet features the faces of teenage weightlifter Alina Perehudova, boxer Pavlo Ishchenko, ice hockey player Oleksii Lohinov, actor and athlete Ivan Kononenko, diver and coach Mykyta Kozhubenko, shooter Oleksii Khavarov, and dancer Daria Kurdel.

"I kept my promise to maintain attention on the war through the Olympics," Heraskevych emphasized.

Heraskevych made his Olympic debut at the 2018 PyeongChang Games and is competing in his third Olympics following the 2022 Beijing Games.

He is the first Ukrainian skeleton athlete to compete on the international stage. At the 2022 Beijing Games, he held up a sign reading "No War in Ukraine."

Heraskevych has expressed his commitment to raising awareness of Ukraine's tragic situation during the Olympics while complying with Olympic rules prohibiting political demonstrations at competition venues. However, he has now been barred from wearing the helmet featuring fallen athletes during competition.

Article 50, Section 2 of the International Olympic Committee's Olympic Charter states that "no kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas."

The IOC determined that Heraskevych's helmet violated this regulation and notified him that it cannot be used in competition.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised Heraskevych for preparing the helmet, saying he "showed the world the cost of our struggle."

"This truth cannot be called inconvenient, inappropriate, or political at a sports event," Zelensky wrote on Telegram. "Ukraine remains faithful to the historic mission of the Olympic movement for peace and life. Russia is the opposite."