Ukrainian Olympics star banned from wearing helmet tribute to war dead

Ukraine’s Winter Olympics flagbearer has accused the International Olympic Committee of betrayal after he was banned from wearing a helmet honoring athletes from his country who were killed during the war with Russia.

Skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych wore his "helmet of remembrance" during a training run at the Cortina Sliding Center on Monday. It's covered in images of Ukrainian athletes killed by Russia during its nearly four-year invasion.

But the IOC confirmed Tuesday that Heraskevych won't be allowed to wear the helmet, saying it contravenes the Olympic Charter guidelines. He will be allowed to wear a black armband, it said, calling the move a compromise.

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“We have to concentrate on the athletes’ performance and sport on the field of play, and it’s fundamental that they are equal rights for all athletes, and that Games need to be separated, not just from political and religious but from all types of interference,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams told a news conference.

Rule 50.2 of the the Olympic Charter states: “No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas.”

Ukraine’s Olympic Committee shared a letter addressed to the IOC earlier Tuesday asking for permission for Heraskevych to train and compete in the helmet. The committee said the helmet “fully complies with safety requirements and IOC rules, does not contain advertising, political slogans or discriminatory elements, and was confirmed as meeting established standards during official training.”

Adams said the IOC had received the letter Tuesday morning and also held an informal meeting Monday night with Heraskevych’s coach and delegation.

“The IOC fully understands the desire of athletes to remember friends, colleagues who have lost their lives in that conflict,” Adams said. He added that the IOC tried to address Heraskevych's case “with compassion and understanding,” and that he would be allowed to wear a plain black armband in competition.

It was not immediately clear if Heraskevych would choose to do so.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had supported Heraskevych in a statement on X, thanking him for “reminding the world the price of our struggle.”

“This truth cannot be inconvenient, inappropriate, or called a ‘political demonstration at a sporting event’,” Zelenskyy said. “It is a reminder to the entire world of what modern Russia is.”

Heraskevych said the images on his helmet feature figure skater Dmytro Sharpar, his 2016 Youth Olympic Games teammate, and boxer Maksym Halinichev among others killed during the war. Some of them were Olympians.

“I race for them,” he said in a video posted on Instagram on Monday.

Heraskevych's helmet features images of Ukrainians killed in the war.Andrew Milligan / PA Images via Getty Images

In another video, Heraskevych said the decision “simply breaks my heart.”

He said the IOC was “betraying those athletes who were part of the Olympic movement, not allowing them to be honored on the sports arena where these athletes will never be able to step again.”

Heraskevych posted again Tuesday, saying he hoped for “a fair final decision” from the IOC. “The truth is on our side,” he wrote, prior to the IOC news conference.

The press office of Ukraine’s sports ministry told NBC News that Heraskevych was focusing on competition and not speaking with the media at the moment.

There are two official men’s training sessions taking place on Tuesday and Wednesday. Heraskevych, a medal hopeful who was fourth at last year’s world championships, is slated to compete Thursday.

This is the third Olympics for the 27-year-old. He finished 18th at the last Winter Olympics in Beijing.

Like everything else in Ukraine, the country’s sport and athletes have been badly affected by the war.

Ahead of the opening ceremony Friday, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said more than 650 Ukrainian athletes and coaches have been killed and over 800 sports facilities have been destroyed in the fighting. Many athletes have loved ones serving in the army, or have had their athletic careers turned upside down by the need to relocate to escape Russian attacks. Others endure daily strikes while trying to train at home.

Russia invaded Ukraine just days after the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing wrapped up.

The IOC has since recommended that sports federations not invite or allow the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials in international competitions. Belarus has acted as a staging ground for the invasion of Ukraine.

Athletes from Russia and Belarus are competing at the Games under a neutral banner. A total of 20 individual neutral athletes competing in Milano Cortina, without flag or anthem.

Heraskevych has been vocal about the presence of athletes who formerly represented Russia and Belarus at the Olympics, questioning their status and why the IOC has cleared them to compete.