CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych said Monday that a helmet he used while training at the Cortina Games in Milan featuring images of compatriots killed during the war in Ukraine will not be allowed to be used in Olympic competition after the IOC told him it violates a rule on political statements.
The helmet, which depicts several athletes who died in the war – some of whom were friends of Heraskevych – is now likely to be shelved following a visit from an IOC representative.
Andrew Milligan – PA Images via Getty Images
Heraskevych, his country’s flag bearer at the Games, said Toshio Tsurunaga, the International Olympic Committee representative responsible for communications between athletes, national Olympic Committees and the IOC, had gone to the Athletes’ Village to brief him.
“He said it is because of Article 50,” Heraskevych told Reuters. Rule 50.2 of the Olympic Charter states that “no form of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted at Olympic sites, venues or other areas.”
The decision to wear the helmet in Milan received praise from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Writing on Telegram, Zelenskiy thanked Heraskevych “for reminding the world of the price of our struggle.
“This truth cannot be uncomfortable, inappropriate, or called a ‘political act at a sporting event’. It is a reminder to the whole world of what modern Russia is,” Zelenskiy said. “And it is precisely this that reminds everyone of the global role of sport and the historic mission of the Olympic movement: it is all about peace and for the sake of life. Ukraine remains committed to this. Russia proves the opposite.”
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Earlier on Monday, the IOC said it had not received an official request from the Ukrainian Olympic Committee to use the helmet during the competition, which starts on February 12.
“To date, the IOC has not received any request from the NOC (National Olympic Committee) to allow the athlete to wear the helmet during competition,” an IOC spokesperson said. “Once a submission has been made, the IOC will review the request.”
Heraskevych told Reuters that the helmet depicted teenage weightlifter Alina Perehudova, boxer Pavlo Ischenko, ice hockey player Oleksiy Loginov, actor and athlete Ivan Kononenko, diver and coach Mykyta Kozubenko, shooter Oleksiy Habarov and dancer Daria Kurdel.
Heraskevych, who held up a “No war in Ukraine” sign at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing days before the Russian invasion, had said he planned to respect Olympic rules banning political demonstrations at venues while ensuring Ukraine’s plight remained visible during the Games.
Following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, athletes from Russia and its ally Belarus were largely banned from international sport, but the IOC has since supported their gradual return under strict conditions.
Moscow and Minsk say sport should be kept separate from international conflicts.
There have been a number of incidents over the years where athletes have protested on the playing field or on the medal podium.
The most famous case dates back to the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, when American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their black-gloved fists during the 200-meter medal ceremony to protest racial injustice in the US.
That led to their exclusion from the Games, although Smith retained his gold medal and Carlos his bronze medal.
More recently, at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, Afghan breakdancer Manizha Talash, a member of the Olympic refugee team, was disqualified after wearing a cape with the slogan “Free Afghan Women” during a pre-qualifying competition.
However, there have also been cases where athletes and teams escaped punishment even though their action was not considered political.
The Australian women’s football team unfurled an Australia’s First Peoples flag at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, but although it was not one of the recognized flags of the countries participating in the Games, the team was not sanctioned.
Two Chinese cycling medalists who wore a badge with the head of their country’s former leader Mao Zedong on the podium in Tokyo escaped with a warning.
