Ukrainian trains in helmet honouring fellow athletes killed in war; IOC says it’s banned for race

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Feb 10: Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych said Tuesday he still wants to compete at the Milan Cortina Games wearing a helmet that commemorates athletes from his country who were killed in the war with Russia, even though the International Olympic Committee said it cannot be used.
The IOC offered Heraskevych a chance to compete while wearing a black armband instead, calling it a compromise. The IOC said the helmet — emblazoned with images of more than 20 athletes and coaches who have been killed since the Russian invasion in 2022 — violates Olympic rule on political statements.
“We will continue to fight for the right to compete in this helmet,” Heraskevych said after his two training runs on Tuesday. “I truly believe that we didn’t violate any law and any rules.”
He plans to wear the helmet again for the final training runs Wednesday in advance of Thursday’s start of the two-day, four-heat Olympic race.
The IOC wrote to the Ukrainian Olympic Committee that it “was a fundamental principle” that the Games have to be separate from “political, religious and any other type of interference.”
Ukraine’s Olympic committee said the helmet, it believes, is fully compliant with IOC rules since it “does not carry any political slogans, and does not express any racial discrimination.”
“What we’ve tried to do is to address his desires with compassion and understanding,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams said Tuesday. “He has expressed himself on social media and in the training and, as you know, we will not stop him expressing himself in press conferences, as he leaves competition in the mixed zone and elsewhere. We feel that this is a good compromise in the situation.”
Heraskevych can evidently train in the helmet without risk of IOC sanctioning. The IOC told the Ukrainians that Heraskevych would not be able to “compete” in the personalized helmet. It says the matter falls under Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter, which in part states that “no kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas.”
The IOC noted it has banned armbands in the past but is willing to make an exception in Heraskevych’s case. The move by the IOC doesn’t mean all athletes can wear armbands, and if Heraskevych chooses to do so, it cannot include any text, Adams said. (AP)