IOC bars Ukrainian athlete’s helmet honoring athletes killed during war
Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych said on Feb. 10 that he has been barred from using a custom helmet at the 2026 Winter Olympics that honors Ukrainian athletes killed in Russia’s war.
Heraskevych said the International Olympic Committee prohibited him from wearing the helmet during official training sessions and competitions after it was shown in initial runs on the Olympic track.
“A decision that simply breaks my heart,” Heraskevych wrote on Instagram. “The feeling that the IOC is betraying those athletes who were part of the Olympic movement, not allowing them to be honored on the sports arena where these athletes will never be able to step again.”
The helmet features portraits of Ukrainian athletes killed during Russia’s full-scale invasion. In an earlier post, Heraskevych said the design was meant to honor only a small portion of the many athletes who have died since the war began.
“It is unfair, and these people should not have left us at such a young age,” he wrote. “With this I want to pay tribute to these individuals and to their families. The world needs to know the true price of Ukrainian freedom.”
President Volodymyr Zelensky posted in support of Heraskevych, noting that the helmet features portraits of Ukrainian athletes killed by Russia, including figure skater Dmytro Sharpar, who died in battle near Bakhmut, and 19-year-old biathlete Yevhen Malyshev, who was killed near Kharkiv.
“This truth cannot be inconvenient, inappropriate, or called a ‘political action at sporting events,’” Zelensky said, describing the helmet as a reminder of the price of Ukraine’s struggle and of the Olympic movement’s mission to stand for peace and life.
The 2026 Winter Olympics kicked off on Feb. 6 and are ongoing in Milan.
While the Russian and Belarusian national teams are banned from the Games, their athletes are allowed to compete in individual events under a “neutral” status.
