Ukrainian skeleton racer fights ban on helmet depicting athletes killed in battle – National
Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych has accused the International Olympic Committee (IOC) of “betrayal” after it prevented him from wearing a helmet with pictures of athletes and friends killed during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Ukraine appealed the ban on the grounds that Heraskevych should be allowed to wear a commemorative hat featuring Alina Peregudova, boxer Pavlo Ishchenko and hockey player Oleksiy Loginov.
The IOC rejected the request, citing a violation of its rules on political speech.
Rule 50.2 of the Olympic Charter states: “No form of political, religious or racial demonstration or propaganda is permitted in any of the Olympic stadiums, venues or other areas.”
IOC spokesman Mark Adams said the governing body would allow Heraskevych to wear a black belt while competing.
“There was an informal meeting last night with Mr. Heraskevych, his coach and delegates, and we reiterated our understanding of the athlete’s desire to pay tribute to his fellow Ukrainian athletes, which he did during training and on social media,” said Adams during a press conference.
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“After the meeting, we reiterated that we will leave the proper channels to allow him to wear a black belt during the commemoration competition.”
This is not the first time Heraskevych has made a statement on the world’s most prestigious sports stage.
While competing in the 2022 Beijing Olympics, he held up a sign that read, “No War in Ukraine.”
In an Instagram post on Tuesday, following the hat ban, he shared a photo from that time, writing, “Unfortunately, in these years this call for silence has become more important.”
And in these 4 years, the IOC has changed a lot. At that time, in that act, they saw a request for peace and did not punish me.”
“Now, at the Olympics, we have already seen a lot of Russian flags on the fields, on the helmet of one of the athletes – and the IOC, this is not a violation.”
He said the hat “honors the members of the Ukrainian sports family who have been killed since the last Olympics.”
“The truth is on our side. I hope the IOC will make the right decision,” he concluded.
In a separate video, he criticized the IOC for inconsistently applying its rules against the Ukrainian people and for “betraying” the athletes featured in his helmet by not allowing them to be honored.
He cited other instances throughout Olympic history where athletes were allowed to honor the death of their relatives with impunity, including German hurdler Matthias Steiner, who, in the press conference after winning gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, held up a picture of his late wife, who died in a car accident more than a year ago.
“Despite the events in modern times and in the past when the IOC allowed such payments, this time they decided to impose special rules on Ukraine,” Heraskevych wrote.
– With files from Global News’ Adriana Fallico
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