Who is Vladyslav Heraskevych? The Ukrainian disqualified from the Winter Olympics over war tribute helmet

Ukrainian racer Vladyslav Heraskevych has been disqualified from the Winter Olympics for wearing a banned helmet featuring images of athletes killed during the Russian war, after insisting he would not betray those who have lost their lives.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) reiterated the skeleton helmet contravenes rule 50 the Olympic Charter and made a last-gasp plea for him to take it off on Wednesday morning or rules “will be enforced.”

But the 27-year-old hit back and slammed the IOC for comparing the war to other conflicts around the world, as a major row erupted.

When asked if it is this helmet or nothing, he said “yeah,” before later adding: “I will not betray these athletes. These athletes sacrificed their lives, and because of this sacrifice, I am able to be here, so I will not betray them.

“An Olympic medal would be huge. Since my childhood, it’s my big dream. But in this time, in time of full-scale war, some things are really more important than medals. At this point, I would say that a medal is worthless in comparison to people's lives, and I believe in comparison to memory of these athletes.”

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Heraskevych’s helmet features athletes, including teenage weightlifter Alina Peregudova, boxer Pavlo Ishchenko and ice hockey player Oleksiy Loginov, who have died in the conflict. It passed a technical inspection on Wednesday.

He revealed he has family currently fighting on the front line and worked for a charity organisation delivering supplies to those in need when Russia first invaded.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky this week said 55,000 Ukrainian soldiers have died since the conflict began.

Heraskevych continued: “It's important to understand that it's not only me who has lost some friends and lost some relatives. I believe now, at this point, we had almost four years of war.

“It was never the goal to make this scandal with IOC. I want to be part of a friendly IOC family, I want to be part of Olympic movement, I don't want to have this scandal. And now it's a scandal, it's a big mess, and if IOC wants to blame someone, they should blame themselves in the first place.”

Rule 50.2 of the Olympic Charter states, "no kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas".

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The IOC offered a black armband to Heraskevych as a compromise, and also said he could show the helmet off before and after the two runs.

Spokesperson Mark Adams said: “There are 130 conflicts in the world, and we can’t have them all featured – however terrible – in the field of play during the competition.”

According to the The International Committee of the Red Cross, the number of armed conflicts taking place in the world reached around 130 in 2024.

However, Heraskevych hit back hard and refused to accept the IOC’s suggestion.

“It's hard to believe, they're saying they're banning my helmet and saying that they're sharing the grief,” he added. “I don't want to downsize any conflicts in the world, but we measure them, yes?

“We can measure them by victims, we can measure them by destructions, and no other conflict is close to the conflict that we have now in Ukraine. And to say it in so casual manner, it's very rude, I would say, towards Ukrainians.”

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In a twist to the tale, Heraskevych remarkably set the fastest run in Wednesday’s first training session, wearing the helmet that has been hand-painted by an artist in Kiev.

The skeleton competition starts on Thursday morning, with the first two runs, before the final two on Friday night. Team GB’s Matt Weston is favourite for gold.

The IOC sent its president, Kirsty Coventry, to speak with Heraskevych in one final bid to persuade him to change course, but he would not be moved.

“Having 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,” the IOC said. “The IOC has therefore decided with regret to withdraw his accreditation for the Milano Cortina 2026 Games.

“Despite multiple exchanges and in-person meetings between the IOC and Mr Heraskevych, the last one this morning with IOC President Kirsty Coventry, he did not consider any form of compromise.

“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 essence of this case is not about the message, it is about where he wanted to express it.”

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