Zelensky slams IOC over helmet ban

AFP | Kyiv

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said yesterday that the decision to ban skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych from the Winter Olympics for refusing to ditch a helmet depicting victims of the war with Russia plays “into the hands of aggressors”.

Gestures of a political nature during competition are forbidden under the Olympic charter.

The International Olympic Committee said Heraskevych had failed “to adhere to the IOC athlete expression guidelines”.

The athlete had insisted he would continue to wear the headgear, which carries pictures of Ukrainian sportsmen and women killed since Russian forces invaded Ukraine in 2022, in his event at the Milan-Cortina Winter Games.

The IOC said in a statement: “(The decision) was taken by the jury of the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) based on the fact that the helmet he intended to wear was not compliant with the rules.”

A defiant Heraskevych posted on X: “This is (the) price of our dignity”, alongside a picture of his helmet.

Zelensky took aim at the IOC. “The Olympic movement should help stop wars, not play into the hands of aggressors,” the Ukrainian president said in a post on social media.

“We are proud of Vladyslav and of what he did. Having courage is worth more than any medal.”

Athletes are permitted to express their views in press conferences and on social media, and the IOC had said on Tuesday it would allow Heraskevych to wear a plain black armband.

A further offer to allow him to carry his helmet into the mixed zone, where athletes talk to journalists after their race, was also rejected.

“Mr Heraskevych was able to display his helmet in all training runs,” yesterday’s IOC statement added. “The IOC also offered him the option of displaying it immediately after the competition when going through the mixed zone.”

Heraskevych has the option to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport but CAS told AFP it had not heard from him.

Coventry plea

IOC president Kirsty Coventry met with Heraskevych early yesterday in a last-ditch attempt to persuade him to change his mind before his competition started.

Coventry, a former Olympic gold medallist in swimming, was in tears after the meeting, according to video images. “I was not speaking to him in that room as a president, I’m speaking to him as an athlete,” she said.

“We have these rules in place to try and be fair and also to try and allow for us to do both things right -- to allow for athletes to express themselves, but also to allow for athletes to be safe.”