Vladyslav Heraskevych says IOC process regarding over Olympic disqualification 'was a mockery'
Vladyslav Heraskevych says IOC process regarding over Olympic disqualification 'was a mockery'
Sean LeahyWed, April 1, 2026 at 7:03 PM UTC
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The Ukrainian skeleton pilot who was banned from competing at the 2026 Winter Olympics after he planned to wear a helmet featuring images of athletes killed during Russia's invasion of his country says that he did not violate an International Olympic Committee rule and that he plans to further fight the decision.
Appearing on "The Ariel Helwani Show" on Tuesday, Vladyslav Heraskevych said that he was unaware his helmet would be an issue even as he completed practice runs on the skeleton track.
The IOC announced “with regret” just before the start of the men’s competition that Heraskevych was disqualified. The Olympic charter states that “No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas."
Heraskevych did not want to use a different helmet because he believed no rules were violated. The IOC offered him the option to wear a black armband or black ribbon instead of the helmet, but he declined.
Despite appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, Heraskevych was denied.
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MUNICH, GERMANY - FEBRUARY 14: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets with Ukrainian skeleton racer and member of Ukraine's National Olympic Team, Vladyslav Heraskevych, and his father, coach of Ukraine's skeleton team, Mykhailo Heraskevych in Munich, Germany on February 14, 2026. Heraskevych was barred from the Milan-Cortina Games after refusing to back down from wearing a helmet adorned with pictures of Ukrainian sportsmen and women killed since Russian-Ukrainian war in 2022. (Photo by Volodymyr Zelenskyy's X Account/Anadolu via Getty Images) (Anadolu via Getty Images)
“[The] process, like court case itself, it was a mockery,” Heraskevych told Helwani on Tuesday. "Because again, I was suspended because of intention to violate the rules, so it was no real violation committed. Even if we had some rule violation in this helmet, but no violation was committed.”
Heraskevych brought up his meeting with the IOC about the helmet and how the topic of "intention" was a constant. He said he used the Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury fight press conferences, in which Fury repeatedly said he planned to knock out Usyk, as an example.
“It never happened, but he had intention,” Heraskevych said. “What [should we] do now?"
The three-time Olympian said that nearly two months after his ability to compete in Milan was taken away from him, he doesn’t plan on giving up the fight.
“When we had this court case in this day, I was hoping that common sense will prevail, but, it never happened,” said Heraskevych, who added that CAS gets funding from the IOC. “We will go to a human rights court and I think it will be more sensible.”
Source: “AOL Sports”
