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Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych’s desire to legally wear a custom helmet while competing in races at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics hit perhaps its most daunting obstacle on Friday.
Heraskevych pleaded for him to don the helmet honoring Ukraine’s war victims before winter snow sports’ highest court.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected Heraskevych’s appeal, ending his final opportunity to compete for a medal at this year’s Games.
Heraskevych was disqualified from a skeleton race because of the helmet, which featured the faces of more than 20 Ukrainian coaches and athletes killed since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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Ukraine’s Vladyslav Heraskevych arrives at the finish during a men’s skeleton training session at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Tuesday, February 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation also concluded that Heraskevych’s intention to wear the helmet was a direct violation of Olympic rules. The IOC cited rules against making political statements on the playing field.
IOC President Kirsty Coventry met with Heraskevych before Thursday’s men’s skeleton event to try to change his mind about wearing a helmet, but to no avail.
“We haven’t found common ground on this,” Heraskevych said.
Heraskevych’s lawyer, Yevhen Pronin, reacted to the court’s decision in agreement with the IOC, saying that his client had not actually committed any wrongdoing.
“The court sided with the IOC and upheld the decision that an athlete could be disqualified from the Olympic Games without an actual fault, without a technical or security threat and before departure,” Pronin said.
Vladyslav Heraskevych of Ukraine during training, wearing a helmet in tribute to the athletes who died during the Russian attack on Ukraine, February 11, 2026. (Reuters/Athit Perawongmetha)
The CAS, the sole arbitrator hearing the case, said it “found these limitations reasonable and proportionate”, especially since Heraskevych could show his helmet away from the racing surface, such as in interview areas and on social media. Heraskevych also wore the helmet during training runs.
In any event, the appeal was largely moot. He was disqualified from the competition less than an hour before the start of the competition on Thursday, and whatever the CAS said on Friday would have changed nothing.
“It looks like this train has left,” Heraskevych said after Friday’s hearing.
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He left the Olympic Village in Cortina d’Ampezzo on Thursday evening with no plans to return, then headed to Milan and arrived in Munich on Friday evening – helmet in hand – for dinner with Ukrainian officials at a security conference. He is also expected to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky this weekend.
Ukraine’s Vladyslav Heraskevych arrives at the finish during a men’s skeleton training session at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Tuesday, February 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Heraskevych admitted to being surprised by the strong reaction.
“I didn’t expect such a serious scandal,” he said.
He also said he had his accreditation for the Games withdrawn, then returned shortly after Thursday in what appeared to be a puzzling gesture of goodwill.
“A mockery,” he said.
The CAS accepted that Heraskevych retains his accreditation.
Tributes from other athletes participating in Milan Cortina were allowed without penalty, including American figure skater Maxim Naumov displaying a photo of his late parents killed in a plane crash last year.
Italian snowboarder Roland Fischnaller wore a small Russian flag on the back of his helmet during the Games, and Israeli skeleton athlete Jared Firestone wore a yarmulke bearing the names of 11 athletes and coaches killed while representing that country at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
The IOC said these cases did not violate any rules.
Naumov showed his photo in the kiss and scream zone and not while he was actually on the ice. Fischnaller’s helmet was a tribute to all the past Olympic venues he competed at, including Sochi. And Firestone’s yarmulke “was covered by a cap,” said IOC spokesman Mark Adams.
The IOC offered Heraskevych the opportunity to compete with a different helmet and pay tribute through the interview area after his races. He could also have worn a black armband.
“I think this is the bad side of history for the IOC,” Heraskevych said.
