Heraskevych calls out IOC’s double standards
Vladyslav Heraskevych (Photo: REUTERS/Annegret Hilse)
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) applied a double standard to Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych by forbidding him to wear his “tribute helmet” at the 2025 Winter Olympics, Heraskevych said on Feb. 11.
The helmet in question is adorned with mages of more than 20 Ukrainian athletes killed in the Russo–Ukrainian war.
The IOC told Heraskevych the helmet violated the Olympic Charter’s guidance on neutrality of equipment and the ban on political or other messages during competition. Ukraine has appealed the decision, and Heraskevych said he still intends to compete wearing the helmet.
In a new Instagram post, Heraskevych contrasted his case with Israeli skeleton athlete Jared Firestone, who appeared at the opening ceremony wearing a kippah that bore the names of 11 Israeli athletes and coaches killed in the 1972 Munich attack.
“A competitor literally placed the memory of the dead on his head to honor them,” Heraskevych said.
“I frankly do not understand how these two cases are fundamentally different. IOC rules apply equally at opening ceremonies, medal ceremonies, and competition venues. Why this treatment of Ukrainians?”
Heraskevych has previously accused the IOC of inconsistency
for allowing an Italian snowboarder to compete with a Russian flag on a helmet,
despite restrictions on Russian state symbols at the 2026 Games.
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