The International Olympic Committee has disqualified Ukrainian skeleton racer gfrom the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics after ruling that his competition helmet breached Olympic rules on political expression.
Heraskevych had worn a “helmet of remembrance” during training runs at the Games, featuring images and names of Ukrainian athletes and coaches who have been killed since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The IOC said the helmet amounted to a prohibited political statement under Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter, which bans political, religious or racial demonstrations at Olympic venues, including the field of play.
The decision meant Heraskevych, described as a medal contender, was removed from competition shortly before he was due to race. The disqualification occurred minutes before the start of the event, following repeated requests for him to switch to a neutral helmet. The IOC said it acted “with regret” while insisting the rule is intended to protect neutrality and keep competition focused on sport.
Heraskevych rejected a proposed compromise, including an offer to allow a black armband as an alternative form of commemoration. IOC President Kirsty Coventry sought a last-minute resolution and suggested other ways to mark the deaths, but Heraskevych said the memorial helmet was integral to the gesture and refused to change it.
The incident has revived scrutiny of Rule 50 and the IOC’s approach to athlete expression. Athletes may voice opinions in interviews, press conferences and on social media, but cannot display messages or gestures in competition arenas, on podiums, or within other Olympic venues. The IOC has argued that without clear boundaries the Games could become a platform for competing political causes.
Ukrainian officials and athletes criticised the ruling. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the decision. Ukraine’s team intends to pursue an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, although the timing of the disqualification left limited practical room for reinstatement at the Games.
Supporters of Heraskevych have framed the helmet as a memorial rather than a political intervention. In interviews Heraskevych argued that remembering named victims of war is comparable to other commemorative practices around sport, and that the message was about individuals who will not return to competition.
The controversy has also prompted comparisons with how the Olympic movement has handled remembrance and security tragedies in the past. The 1972 Munich Olympics were marked by the killing of Israeli athletes after a hostage-taking attack by the Palestinian group Black September. The official Olympics history records that the Games were suspended and a memorial was held. Commentators backing Heraskevych have cited such precedents to argue that commemoration is not automatically treated as “political” within the Olympic setting.
The dispute adds to a long-running argument over whether Olympic “neutrality” can be applied cleanly in wartime. The IOC’s restrictions were shaped in an era when the Games were repeatedly pulled into great-power confrontation, including the 1980 Moscow Olympics, boycotted after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. About 60 states joined that boycott in full or in part, a reminder that geopolitics has repeatedly set the terms of Olympic participation, regardless of official doctrine.
For Ukraine and its supporters, Heraskevych’s disqualification illustrates how Rule 50 can be enforced in a way that draws a hard line even against memorial acts. The practical outcome is unchanged: Ukraine’s leading skeleton athlete will not race in Cortina. What remains is a broader question now firmly back on the Olympic agenda—where the IOC draws the boundary between prohibited messaging and the public remembrance of those killed by war.
