Ukrainian team barred from wearing Ukraine map on uniform at Winter Paralympics
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The International Paralympic Committee barred Ukraine’s Paralympic team from wearing their ceremonial uniform for the upcoming Winter Games, saying the design featuring a map of Ukraine was political, according to Ukraine's National Paralympic Committee President Valerii Sushkevych.
The main design feature was a map of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders, including all temporarily occupied territories.
"The International Paralympic Committee said: 'No, no, no – this will not do!' They claimed the kit was political," Sushkevych said in an interview with Ukrinform on March 2.
Sushkevych described the uniform as beautiful and symbolic, adding that it "very clearly shouted that Ukraine exists in the world and in Europe with all its territories, without Russian occupation."
The uniform was designed by Ukrainian fashion designer Viktor Anisimov, who also created the Ukrainian team’s 2024 summer Paralympics uniforms.
The Winter Paralympic Games will take place in Milan from March 5 to 16, with Ukraine represented by 35 participants competing in four sports.
Six athletes from Russia and four from Belarus will compete under their national flags at the upcoming games, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) confirmed in a statement to multiple media outlets on Feb. 17.
It will mark the first time the Russian flag has flown at the Paralympics since the 2014 Games in Sochi.
At the Olympic Games, which concluded on Feb. 22, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) disqualified Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych over his intention to compete wearing a helmet honoring athletes who died in the Russian war against Ukraine.
The IOC claimed that Heraskevych had allegedly violated its guidelines on athlete expressions on the field of play. The athlete disputes the decision, arguing that his tribute did not breach the rules. At the same time, several other foreign athletes who paid tribute to loved ones during the Games were not sanctioned.
"This is the price of our dignity," Heraskevych wrote on X after the IOC's announcement of his disqualification. Heraskevych was later awarded the Order of Freedom by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The ruling followed earlier interventions by organizers involving other Ukrainian competitors. Freestyle skier Kateryna Kotsar was required to remove the slogan "Be Brave Like Ukrainians" from her helmet, while short track speed skater Oleh Handei had to alter equipment displaying a line from a poem by Ukrainian writer Lina Kostenko.
Heraskevych appealed the disqualification to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which upheld the IOC's decision. His legal team is now preparing to challenge the ruling in other courts.
