Ukrainian racer disqualified for helmet‘SHAME’: The IOC said that Heraskevych’s helmet was not compliant with the rules, while Ukraine’s foreign ministry said there was nothing wrong with commemorationAFP, CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, ItalyUkrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych was disqualified from the Winter Olympics yesterday after refusing to back down over his banned helmet, which depicts victims of his country’s war with Russia. Ukraine’s Vladyslav Heraskevych starts a men’s skeleton training session at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, on Wednesday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had defended the athlete’s right to wear the helmet, but he knew he was taking a risk, as gestures of a political nature during competition are forbidden under the Olympic charter. “Mr Heraskevych was able to display his helmet in all training runs,” the IOC said. “These people that he showed in his helmet, they’re real people that died because of the Russian invasion,” she said.

Source: Taipei Times February 12, 2026 17:13 UTC