Ukrainian Vladislav Heraskevych, who wanted to wear a helmet bearing the image of several teammates killed during the conflict with Russia, was disqualified on Thursday from the skeleton events at the 2026 Olympic Games in Milan Cortina. Accusing the IOC of "playing into the hands of the aggressors", he appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to obtain his reinstatement.

Published on: 02/12/2026 - 10:54 Modified on: 02/13/2026 - 10:50

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The affair of the “memory helmet” has not finished causing a stir at the 2026 Olympic Games (OJ) in Milan-Cortina. The Ukrainian Vladislav Heraskevych was disqualified on Thursday February 12 from the skeleton events, his Olympic committee said. The athlete planned to wear a helmet paying tribute to several teammates who died during the conflict with Russia.

He finally appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to obtain his reinstatement in the competition, the CAS announced Thursday evening in a press release.

“The request challenges the decision of the IBSF jury (the international skeleton federation, editor's note) affirming that Mr. Heraskevych intended to wear in competition a helmet displaying portraits of Ukrainian athletes who lost their lives in the war, which was considered incompatible with the Olympic Charter,” indicated the CAS.

Its appeal before the ad hoc chamber of the CAS, established at each edition of the Games to resolve Olympic disputes, will be examined on Friday, with a decision "in principle" during the day, the sports court told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Basically, the skeleton specialist, fourth in the Worlds last year and who represented a real chance of a medal for Ukraine, requests the annulment of his disqualification, according to the CAS.

“I still believe I didn’t break any rules.”

“I still believe that I didn’t break any rules,” Ukrainian Vladislav Heraskevych defended himself to journalists during the day, on the sidelines of the skeleton events.

"Athletes in almost the same situation were treated differently and were not sanctioned. For example, during the snowboarding events, an athlete displayed a Russian flag. According to the regulations of the IOC (the International Olympic Committee, Editor's note), the Russian flag is prohibited, but this athlete was not sanctioned," he continued.

The head of Ukrainian diplomacy, Andriï Sybiga, denounced a “moment of shame” for the IOC.

In a press release, the IOC, which had suggested on Tuesday to Vladislav Heraskevych to wear a black armband instead of this helmet, confirmed that he had not been authorized to take part in the events "for having refused to accept the IOC rules regarding the expression of athletes".

A helmet “not compliant with regulations”

“This (Thursday) morning, upon his arrival at the competition site, Mr. Heraskevych met IOC President Kirsty Coventry, who explained to him one last time the IOC's position. As in previous meetings, he refused to change his position,” argued the Olympic body in its long explanatory text.

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Under these conditions, "the decision was taken by the jury of the International Federation (IBSF), based on the fact that the helmet he intended to wear did not comply with the regulations", continues the press release.

“The IOC therefore decided, with regret, to withdraw its accreditation for the 2026 Olympic Games. Despite numerous exchanges and discussions in person with Mr. Heraskevych (...), he did not want to compromise,” added the IOC.

After her discussion with Heraskevych, the patroness of world sport left the bobsleigh track in tears. “In Ukraine at the moment there are also a lot of tears (...) I want to thank her for these kind words but as I told her, this situation goes in the direction of Russian propaganda, and that is not good,” Heraskevych said.

The IOC decided to withdraw his accreditation for the 2026 Olympics, because according to the Olympic body, the Ukrainian violated Article 50 of its Olympic Charter which prohibits any form of “political, religious or racial propaganda” at the competition venues.

An athlete supported by President Zelensky

“I did not want to create this scandal and there is this scandal because certain people within the IOC have a very strange interpretation of their rules, which can be considered a form of discrimination,” he added.

While he claims to have received the support of several athletes and national teams, the Ukrainian regretted that "due to the actions of the IOC, the Olympic moment of many athletes was stolen: we talk more about this scandal than the events, it is a terrible error on the part of the IOC".

Vladislav Heraskevych is now considering seizing the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS): "It's one of the options, it's something serious to seize the CAS, we need to discuss it further."

He took part in training on Monday wearing a gray helmet bearing the screen-printed images of several of his compatriots who died in the war. An initiative then welcomed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

“His helmet bears the portraits of our athletes who were killed by Russia. Figure skater Dmytro Sharpar, killed in combat near Bakhmut; Yevhen Malyshev, a 19-year-old biathlete killed by the occupiers near Kharkiv; and other Ukrainian athletes whose lives were taken away by the war led by Russia,” the president underlined on the X network.

A speech that he reiterated on Thursday, declaring in a publication on “Unfortunately, the decision of the International Olympic Committee to disqualify Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych says the opposite,” he said.

With AFP

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